“Our Lives are Fleeting Moments”: Role of Women in Brezhnev-Era Soviet Georgian Film

From 1953 through glasnost, Georgia’s film studio was second only to Moscow’s in terms of resources and quality output. However, Soviet Georgian film tends to be underrepresented in Western academia. Georgian cinema’s golden age during the silent film era would provide an ideal foundation for the region to take the lead of other periphery republics in cinematic achievements as censorship relaxed. This thesis will examine the use of the role of women specifically through a thematic analysis of films and filmmaking in celebrated and influential Brezhnev-era Soviet Georgia, specifically in Tengiz Abuladze’s The Plea (Vedreba, 1967) and The Wishing Tree (Drevo Zhelania, 1977) and Lana Ghoghoberidze’s Some Interviews on Personal Matters (Ramdenime Interviu Pirad Sakitkhebze, 1978). Throughout this analysis, I will compare the motif of memory as facilitated through female characters. In my conclusion, I emphasize this era's impact on the current resurgence of Georgian cinema, which is predominantly led by a cohort of female directors.