A space of one’s own
Yana has given up her acting career to follow her husband’s initiative to become a Jehovah’s Witness missionary in a remote Georgian village. When locals burn down their place of worship during a service, pressure falls squarely on Yana. She is surrounded by unsympathetic and manipulative men—the police, her husband, God, her son—and searches with quiet desperation for a space where she can know peace. Her story is at once intense and harrowing, but portrayed in a remarkably unconventional fashion by an outstanding new female director. Striking compositions and lingering takes are the trademarks of Déa Kulumbegashvili’s style. A close shot of a hand placed on the back of a bus seat is sufficient to allow us to feel Yana’s state of mind. The sheer originality of this film is what allows it to resonate.
Déa Kulumbegashvili
Dea Kulumbegashvili was born in Oriol, Russia but grew up in Georgia. She studied Media Studies at The New School in New York and directing at Columbia University School of the Arts. Her debut short Invisible Spaces (2014) was nominated for the Palme D’Or at Cannes. Her other short film is Lethe (2016). She co-wrote and co-produced the feature City of the Sun (2015). Beginning is her debut feature as director.
