Director Mariam Khatchvani was born in Ushguli, Svanati and she studied film directing at the Shota Rustaveli State Film University. She has directed numerous documentaries, including Verdzoba (2006), ‘Beyond the Window’ (2007) and Lichanishi and Kvirikoba (2009). In 2013, Mariam made her short film Dinola. Funded by the Georgian National Film Centre, it was hugely successful and screened at over thirty film festivals including Hong Kong Film Festival Doha – Tribeca Film Festival, Clermont- Ferrand Film Festival, Friborg Film Festival, Brussels Short Film Festival, Uppsala Film festival, Cinemas du Monde in Cannes, Sarajevo Film Festival. It was also one of five nominees for best short film at the European Film Awards in 2014. After seeing her short, the Sundance Institute invited Mariam and producer-writer Vladimer Katcharava to attend their 2015 Screenwriter’s Lab in June where they finished the full length screenplay which is now Dede.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
