Taming the Garden

Switzerland, Germany, Georgia 2021 91 minutes
  • Director: Salomé Jashi
  • Producer: Vadim Jendreyko, Erik Winker, Martin Roelly, Salomé Jashi
  • Editing: Chris Wright
  • Sound Design: Philippe Ciompi
  • Screening Platform: Focus Caucasus Competition
  • Screening Date: 2021-08-21
  • Screening Time: 18:00

A powerful man, who is also the former prime minister of Georgia, has developed an exquisite hobby. He collects century old trees along Georgia’s coastline. He commissions his men to uproot them and bring them to his private garden.

Some of these trees are as tall as 15-floor-buildings. And in order to transplant a tree of such dimensions some other trees are chopped down, electric cables are shifted and new roads are paved through mandarin plantations. The film moves the concept of uprooting from its metaphorical meaning into an oppressive, tangible and yet surreal reality.