Loco Films Boards Venice Title ‘Guria’ As Drama Is Selected To Be Georgia’s Oscar Entry + First Trailer — SkimNews
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- Loco Films has boarded sales on Levan Koguashvili's drama 'Guria' ahead of its world premiere in the Spotlight section of the Venice Film Festival, with a first trailer unveiled alongside the deal.
- Georgia selected 'Guria' as its entry for the 99th Academy Awards on Thursday, with the Georgian National Film Center choosing it from a five-film shortlist that also included 'Supporting Role,' 'Phase,' 'The Moon Is My Father,' and 'Share the Love.'
- The film follows Zuriko, a 45-year-old hazelnut farmer in post-Soviet western Georgia who refuses a lowball offer from Italian buyers while his best friend Gela tries to set him up with a new wife approved by his formidable ex-mother-in-law.
- Koguashvili framed the project as tragicomedy about ordinary people, calling western Georgia 'a state of mind' and insisting the film carries 'no ideological or political agendas — just pure living, just pure cinema.'
- 'Guria' is a seven-country co-production spanning Georgia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Turkey, Norway and Saudi Arabia, with lead producers including Kino Iberica, Cineworx Filmproduktion, Tarantula Luxembourg and Art Fest, backed in part by the Red Sea Fund.
- Koguashvili previously directed 'Brighton 4th,' which premiered at Tribeca in 2019 and won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition — a title Loco Films also previously handled for sales.
- Loco Films CEO Laurent Daniélou described 'Guria' as 'a marvelous Georgian comedy that opens a window onto a fractured post-Soviet world with warmth, sensuality and wry humor.'
Why it matters: Loco Films reuniting with Koguashvili after 'Brighton 4th' gives the director a sales infrastructure already proven to deliver festival-to-awards traction, while Georgia betting its Oscar slot on a seven-country co-production backed by the Red Sea Fund amplifies the film's international reach beyond typical Georgian cinema budgets.
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