Altzaney

by Nino Orjonikidze, Vano Arsenishvili
30’, Georgia, 2009

The inhabitants of the Georgian village Pankisi Gorge are convinced that all important questions about life and death must be resolved through the mediation of an authority. Altzaney is an elderly woman, and it is she who fulfills this role in the town. She is allowed to enter into the lives of others, to look after them, and to take on responsibility for them. Her obligation is to resolve controversies, calm conflicts, and above all to mediate between two worlds, that of the living and that of the dead. In fact, Altzaney is the only person entrusted to care for the dead. But what is it that makes this graceful and smiling woman such an authority and so highly respected in a strongly male-dominated, patriarchal society? And what is the price she must pay?

Nino Orjonikidze, Vano Arsenishvili
Nino Orjonikidze, after earning degrees in journalism in Tbilisi and London, began working as a reporter for Georgian television. In 2004, she began her activity as a producer and director of documentaries. Vano Arsenishvili studied directing at the University of Film and Theatre and at the Film Academy in Vienna and has worked as a director of short films and independent documentaries, as well as for television. In 2008 they founded the documentary company Artefact Production, where they have co-directed numerous documentaries.