Dialogues – Calcutta International LGBTQIA+ Film & Video Festival
November 2022

ZÜRCHER FILMPREIS
Oktober 2022

BERNER FILMPREIS
Oktober 2022

MIX Copenhagen
Oktober 2022

Women makes Waves FF, Taiwan
Oktober 2022

Reeling Chicago LGBT
Oktober 2022

ImageOut, NY
Oktober 2022

London Georgian Film Festival
September 2022

QueerLisboa
September 2022

Fünf Seen Film Festival
September 2022

Herceg Novi FF Montenegro
August 2022

Sarajevo Film Festival
August 2022

European Film Festival Palić
July 2022

Festival Ciné-Rencontres de Prades
July 2022

FRAMELINE San Francisco

June 21, 13:00h Castro Cinema

KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival

June 3, 22:00h Liberty Cinema

Mostra FIRE!! Barcelona

June 10, 20:00h Institut Francès
June 15, 22:00h Institut Francès

Al Este Film Festival – Peru

June 6, 12:00h Cineplanet Alcázar, Lima

Kinostart Schweiz

Romandie 30.03.2022
Deutschschweiz 05.05.2022
Vorpremieren/Avant-première:
Mo 2. Mai 18.00h: Kult.Kino in Basel
Di 3. Mai 20.00h: Kino REX in Bern
Mi 4. Mai 20.00h: Kinok in St. Gallen
Do 5. Mai 20.30h: RiffRaff in Zürich
Fr 6. Mai 20.15h: Kino Cameo in Winterthur

San Francisco International Film Festival

April 30, 12:00h CGV San Francisco

BFI Flare 2022

March 23, 18:10h BFI Southbank, NFT3
March 25, 14:30h BFI Southbank, NFT1

International Film Festival of Kerala

March 20, 09:45h Ariesplex 4
March 22, 18:30h Nila
March 24, 15:00h Kairali

Locarno Film Festival in Los Angeles

March 20, 13:00h 2220 Arts + Archives

Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival

March 8, 19:30h Prinsen 2
March 10, 20:30h Prinsen 6
March 11, 15:30h Kongesalen
March 13, 14:00h Prinsen 8

Roze Filmdagen

March 16, 21:45h Ketelhuis 2

HUMAN VISION Film Festival

March 6, 18:00h Grosser Saal, Spielboden, Dornbirn

BRIDGES. East of West Film Days 2022

Feb 19, 17:00h Studio, Palais des beaux-arts de Bruxelles

Trieste Film Festival 2022

Jan 26, 20:15h Teatro Miela, Q&A with Elene Naveriani

Solothurner Filmtage 2022

Jan 21, 11:45h Landhaus, Q&A with Elene Naveriani
Jan 24, 20:45h Reithalle

Human Rights Film Festival Zurich

Dec 4, 15:00h KOSMOS 3, Q&A with Elene Naveriani
Dec 6, 21:00h KOSMOS 3

image+nation Festival Film LGBTQueer Montréal

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Nov 23, 19:00h cinéma Impérial

Pink Screens Brussels

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Nov 19, 19:30h Cinema Aventure

#CINEUROPA35  – Santiago de Compostela

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Nov 12, 21:15h Salón Teatro
Nov 17, 22:00h Multicines Composelta

LITHUANIAN PREMIERE
Scanorama

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Nov 7, 19:15h Forum Cinemas Vingis: 5
Nov 9, 21:00h Skalvija
Nov 11, 21:15h  Pasaka: Senamiesčio
Nov 13, 17:00h Skalvija

Queersicht Bern

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Nov 5, 18:00h Kino Rex 1
Nov 10, 18:00h Kino Rex 1

AUSTRIAN PREMIERE
Viennale

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Oct 22, 21h Metro, Historischer Saal
Oct 24, 12.15h Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Film Fest Ghent
International Competition

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Oct 19, 11.30h Kinepolis 6, Press only
Oct 19, 19.45h Kinepolis 6
Oct 20, 13.30h Kinepolis 4
Oct 21, 22.15h Kinepolis 6

WORLD PREMIERE
Int. Film Festival Locarno

Competition Cineasti del Presente

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Aug 11, 11.30h PalaCinema 1
Aug 12, 21h Altra Sala
Aug 13, 11.30h Kursaal

A village at the Georgian Black Sea with friendly people believing to know each other. One day, Eliko is found hanged; his granddaughter Moe comes to organize his funeral. She is confronted with a web of lies and the tragic consequences of Eliko’s hidden love life with Amnon over the last 22 years. The truth however frees Moe’s capability to love and provokes the villagers to take a stand.

Elene Naveriani: „In Georgia, in the little village where the waves never stop washing the shore, one day love finds its place to exist despite violent nationalist values, traditions and religion that silence the voices of people, restricts their freedom and wipes out all the traces of their lives. WET SAND is a homage to the people that were forgotten, it’s a struggle against the bigotry and discrimination and it’s an act of empowerment for generations who are struggling with their identity and to give them a story to imagine themselves in the future, in their own countries, and encourage them to live the life they want to live, and never give up the dreams.“

Prix de Soleure 2022 Winner

Read laudatio in full length (German)

Read laudatio in full length (French)

 

Los Angeles Times – by Carlos Aguilar 17.3.2022

Elene Naveriani’s sorrowful drama finds its emotional anchor in Agumava’s understatedly potent performance as a man grieving in the shadows. She harnesses its seemingly idyllic location, with breezy days and the soothing sound of waves crashing, for a humanistic statement on acceptance and identity, a still difficult topic within the traditionally religious Georgian society.

Read article in full length

 

The Calvert Journal – by Redmond Bacon 3.12.2021

Elene Naveriani’s film Wet Sand unearths Georgian society’s deeply buried secrets

Read article in full length

 

Filmexplorer – by Emilien Gür 5.9.2021

«L’histoire est d’abord racontée par des gestes, des regards, des raccords, des durées de plan ; ensuite seulement, elle prend la forme d’un récit. Le drame est stylisé par son évidence, sans pour autant être mis à distance.»

«The story is first told through gestures, glances, connected shots and their length; only then does it take the form of a narrative. The drama is stylised by its obviousness, without being distanced.»

Read article in full length (French)

 

J-Mag by Malik Berkati 14.8.21

«Wet Sand est un véritable manifeste humaniste qui transcende la thématique LGBTIQ+, servi par de formidables actrices et acteurs, la photographie d’Agnesh Pakozdi, aux cadrages classiques, qui sublime les intérieurs sans âge ainsi que les paysages âpres des rivages de la mer Noire, et un design sonore sensationniste.»

«Wet Sand is a true humanist manifesto that transcends LGBTIQ+ issues, supported by formidable actors and actresses, Agnesh Pakozdi’s classically framed cinematography that sublimates the ageless interiors as well as the rugged landscapes of the Black Sea shores, and a sensational sound design.»

Read article in full length

 

Vertigo/RTS – by Philip Cadert 13.8.2021

Listen to the radio interview here (French)

 

Cineuropa by Muriel del Don 13.8.21

«Elene Naveriani presents her poignant second feature film, an invigorating yet melancholy hymn to diversity revolving around a cathartic investigation into a refused identity.»

Read article in full length

 

Le Courrier by Mathieu Loewer 12.8.21
Read article in full length (French)

 

Variety by Emiliano Granada 12.8.21

«Wet Sand is Naveriani’s second feature and, beyond its craft and structure, playfully blends genres without losing a a clear auteurist voice.»

Read article in full length

A film by Elene Naveriani

With Bebe Sesitashvili, Gia Agumava, Megi Kobaladze, Giorgi Tsereteli, Eka Chavleishvili, Zaal Goguadze, Kakha Kobaladze
Script: Sandro Naveriani, Elene Naveriani, Cinematography: Agnesh Pakozdi, Set Design: Ketevan Nadibaize, Costumes: Nino Injia, Make up: Eka Chikhradze, Casting: Leli Miminoshvili, Editing: Aurora Franco Vögeli, Sound Design + Music: Philippe Ciompi, Re-Recording Mix: Jacques Kieffer, Line Producer: Vladimer Chikhradze, Producers: Cornelia Seitler, Brigitte Hofer, Ketie Danelia

Produced by maximage, in coproduction with Takes Film and SRF, SRG SSR

Financed by Federal Office of Culture, Zurich Film Fund, Film Funding Bern, Cultural Fund Suissimage, MEDIA Desk Suisse, Succès Passage Antenne, Succès Cinèma, development support of Cultural Fund of Sociéte Suisse des Auteurs (SSA) and Georgian National Film Center

contact production & wordsales:
maximage
Neugasse 6
CH-8005 Zürich
www.maximage.ch
info@maximage.ch
t +41 44 274 88 66

contact distribution Switzerland:
Sister Distribution
4 rue des Marbriers
CH – 1204 Genève
www.sister-distribution.ch
contact@sister-distribution.ch
t +41 22 808 08 63