Georgian Director Ana Urushadze on Making Her Sarajevo Competition Film Before “A Dead-End Situation” Got Worse

The Georgian film industry is, in Ana Urushadze’s words, “in a dead-end situation.”

Directors, producers, writers and performers are boycotting the Georgian National Film Center (GNFC). Among other issues, they’re protesting the state funding agency over censorship concerns. “Unfortunately, the people who should care and have the means to turn the situation around don’t do that. It’s a dead-end situation at this point,” she says. “The people boycotting, I know many of them and there are very, very talented people there. Ones who have not had any possibility to do a feature film yet, and possibly will not have [the chance] in the near future. Time goes by, and films are not being made.” Related Stories Movies Phyllida Law, Actress and Mother of Sophie and Emma Thompson, Dies at 94 Movies Woody Harrelson Pays Tribute to "Brilliant" Rob Reiner at Lively Sarajevo Masterclass

Urushadze’s second feature film, premiering in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival nine years after her debut film Scary Mother won the Heart of Sarajevo, was one of the last projects to make it out before the situation worsened.

The Tbilisi-set Supporting Role follows Niaz Ninua (played by Dato Bakhtadze), a fading Georgian film star accustomed to playing heroic lead roles. After meeting with a young, female director, Aza (Elene Maisuradze), who offers him the chance to play a bizarre and deeply unsympathetic character in her debut feature, Niaz leaves the audition unconvinced (and pretty offended). But he soon embarks on something of an odyssey around the city and gradually surrenders to the role. Captivated by the unknown, meeting characters as elusive as those in a Homer epic, Niaz sets in motion an irreversible process of self-transformation.

“To me, ultimately, it’s a film about realizing the elusive nature of reality, and taking control of your life,” the Georgian filmmaker tells The Hollywood Reporter from Sarajevo’s National Theatre on Wednesday. We are catching up ahead of the movie’s competition premiere before a star-studded jury — led by Oscar nominee Emily Watson — decides on a winning film later this week.

Urushadze’s meta-ish project is inspired by a lot of prevalent, 21st-century themes: the generational gap, creative liberation and legacy. Inspiration struck when she herself was casting the main actor for her debut feature. “I was meeting all these men [who were] 60, 70 years old. And I had a really interesting encounter with one of them who got offended because I was very young — very [much] a beginner,” she laughs. “He was waiting for a more established director and he rushed out. It was really inspirational for me. I started thinking about this character: ‘Who is it? What would he be like?'”

Niaz is played with self-effacing vulnerability by Bakhtadze, who is “a delight” to work with, according to the director. “You can really see how he loves and how comfortable he is in what he’s doing. It’s always inspiring to see people doing something that they are really passionate about and professional,” she says.