Tangerines
classified 15 SPlease note: This was screened in Oct 2015
Georgian director Zaza Urushadze's Oscar®-nominated film is a gripping and perceptive antiwar tale set during the little-known Georgian-Abkhazian war. Taking the neutral viewpoint of one of the last remaining Estonians in the disputed Caucasus region (Ivo, played with a measured and sage force by Lembit Ulfsak) Tangerines observes the growing conflict from a (naturally) tangerine orchard on a remote mountain.
A sudden shootout between Georgian soldiers and Chechen mercenaries puts Ivo in the strange and extremely tense position of nursing two wounded soldiers who are mortal enemies in his small house. During their extended period of convalescence, they are forced not only to confront the reasons that fuel their hatred for each other, but also the conflict which rages around them. Gorgeously filmed in a mountainous coastal region of Georgia, this is an astute and captivating history lesson - and, moreover, an eloquent statement for peace.