THE CHAIR (Georgia, 2017)

After his party is defeated in the elections, Minister of Refugees Giorgi Mchedlishvili loses everything that is dear to him: office, car, his salary, and, most importantly, power. Giorgi has a secret weapon in his special Boss-chair, an animate being that protects him and sometimes tells him what to do—although the chair’s instructions don’t pan out the way Giorgi hopes. Cut off from power and everything that it brings, Giorgi rediscovers his humanity, rescuing and marrying a refugee that his ministry has mistreated, and reconnecting with his daughter, whom he rejected for her different politics and for marrying an outsider. The Chair is the first film by legendary Georgian director Eldar Shengelaia since 1996, and features a sense of humor, bureaucracratic satire, and criticism of government structures reminiscent of his iconic film Blue Mountains, screened at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival as a Cannes Classic.

Directed by Eldar Shengelaia (Georgia, 2017). Digital. Georgian with English subtitles.
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSr1GNp5oUc

Part of the series NEW WAVE NOW: Georgia’s Independent Voice. Co-presented by the Ballets Russes Arts Initiative and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with support from the Embassy of Georgia to the United States and the Georgian National Film Center.