"Forced Migration of Butterflies" A slapstick tragicomedy that condenses Georgia's history, tradition and spirit in a semi-underground space where artists gather!

Synopsis of "Forced Migration of Butterflies"

Georgia. 1991. With independence from the Soviet Union drawing near, young people welcome the New Year with a hopeful <revelry>. However, although their dreams come true, their joy soon fades away with a new war... And now, 27 years later, painter Kosta lives in the basement of an old house that was passed down from his grandparents' generation. His former fellow artists gather there. Then Kosta's old girlfriend Nina returns, and an American collector who comes to buy Kosta's paintings falls in love with her at first sight! What will happen?!

Index

• A humble piece from the kingdom of cinema
• A tragicomedy that encapsulates the excitement and scars of the 90s
• The iconic painting "Forced Migration of Butterflies" and its unforgettable ending

A humble piece from the kingdom of cinema

If you slide your finger across a world map to find Georgia, you will find it right between Russia and Turkey, facing the Black Sea. It has a population of about 3.7 million and an area that is about 80% of Hokkaido. In recent years, it has been widely introduced as the birthplace of wine, but its history is amazing, dating back about 8,000 years. Incidentally, the Japanese restaurant chain Matsuya sometimes serves the popular Georgian dish "Shkmeruli hotpot set meal" for a limited time, which is also popular among fans.

Georgia is also known as the "kingdom of cinema." Located at a key transportation and trade hub, film culture was introduced to the country relatively early on, and despite being under political and cultural control from neighboring countries, it has maintained its own unique style of filmmaking. In other words, it is a kingdom of cinema in the sense that it deeply combines the three elements of history, tradition, and spirit. That is how I understand it.

"Forced Migration of Butterflies" ©STUDIO-99

The new film from Georgia, "Forced Migration of Butterflies" (23), is directed by Nana Djordjadze (1948-), one of the country's most representative female directors, who won an award at Cannes in the 1980s.

It's not a big-budget blockbuster, and it's not particularly flashy or glamorous. But if you pay close attention to the film's style and narrative, you'll notice that the history, tradition, and spirit of Georgia, which can only be described as "Georgian," are tightly packed into this small space. By the time the 89-minute small universe comes to a close, you'll be captivated by the characters in the film and the country of Georgia itself, and it will be difficult for you to leave the place.

A tragicomedy that encapsulates the excitement and scars of the 90s