"The opening text informs us that Soso, father of the family, was originally an engineer but has chosen to pack in his profession and take up farming partly because the Georgian government is offering attractive credit incentives, particularly for those who work the land near the border with Abkhazia, once part of Georgia but effectively a puppet state of Russia since the 2008 Russia-Georgia war."
"Soso learns the hard way that it is a struggle to make a profit, especially as buyers serving the European market are few, and they must sell to the despised Russians to make a profit, much to the disgust of Soso's long-suffering wife, Nino."
"Lazare, his older brother, Giorgi, and another kid chat about the region's politics and history after a Christmas-meal, speculating on how great it would have been if the Germans had killed Putin's mother during the second world war."
Elene Mikaberidze's debut feature documentary follows a working-class Georgian family over eighteen months as they establish a blueberry plantation. Soso, formerly an engineer, pursues farming after the government offers credit incentives for border-region agriculture. The family operates against a backdrop of geopolitical tension, with the 2008 Russia-Georgia war and Abkhazia's status as a Russian puppet state influencing their daily lives. Children discuss regional politics and history, while the family struggles with agricultural realities. Soso discovers profitability challenges, particularly when forced to sell to Russian buyers despite nationalist sentiment. The documentary balances intimate family moments with broader political context, maintaining meditative pacing while capturing authentic rural life and its complexities.
#georgian-agriculture #geopolitical-tension #documentary-filmmaking #rural-family-life #economic-struggle
Read at www.theguardian.com
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