And Then We Danced Plus: Spooning | Rebecca Applebaum | Canada

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by Jan Brookhouse Sweden, Georgia, France | 2019 | 106m | 15 tbc | subtitles Director: Levan Akin Starring: Levan Gelbakhiani, Ana Javakishvili, Bachi Valishvili

And Then We Danced Plus: Spooning | Rebecca Applebaum | Canada | 7m

A low budget Swedish, French, Georgian gay rights rally was attacked by thousands of anti- coproduction, And Then We Danced is gay protesters, supported by the Orthodox Church. writer/director/co-editor Levan Akin’s third feature. And Then We Danced developed from his research Premiering at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, it into making a film about being young and gay in was nominated for the Queer Palm award and has Georgia. been selected as Sweden’s submission for an Academy Award in the Best International Feature Akin chose dance for the film’s setting because Film category. traditional Georgian Dance plays a large part in the country’s culture. With roots in military moves and Set in Georgia, previously a Soviet state, it is a sports, it provides a strict masculine discipline and coming-of-age story about Merab, a dancer at the representation of an oppressive patriarchal society, National Dance Ensemble. His goal of a place in a stark contrast to Western dance culture. At the the main company becomes a greater struggle same time, dance also facilitates the expression of when rival dancer Irakli joins the Ensemble and emotion in the film. Merab falls in love with him. Merab is played by Levan Gelbakhiani, a dancer Akin, who is Swedish with Georgian heritage, and non-professional actor who Akin met via started his directing career in 2003 as a trainee Instagram early in his research. He accepted the second assistant director. He went on to direct role after discussing with family and friends and several short films, episodes of various Swedish establishing trust in Akin, viewing it as an television programmes, such as Real Humans, and opportunity to influence social change. the feature-length films Certain People (2008) and The Circle (2011). Irakli is played by Bachi Valishvili, who was cast In 2013 Akin went to Georgia in response to news because of the immediate coverage from the capital, Tbilisi. The country’s first chemistry between him

And Then We Danced

and Gelbakhiani during his audition. Mary, Merab’s was ‘instrumental in orchestrating everything dance partner at the Ensemble, is played by Ana there’ – Variety.

Javakishvili, a friend of Gelbakhiani since they were

12. Asked whether the film has contributed to a shift towards greater tolerance in Georgia, Akin felt Homophobia in Georgia presented challenges to that, as one of the few films in the Georgian making the film there. Information leaks about language ever to be accepted at Cannes, it has themes resulted in the need for bodyguard gained a lot of legitimising attention. ‘To me the protection and to change locations at short notice. film is very much a love letter to culture and The Georgian Dance choreographer who worked tradition. I wanted to show that there wasn’t any undercover on the film is unnamed in the film’s contradiction in loving your heritage, being part credits because ‘to do so would have cost him his of your culture, and also breaking the norm. That job’ – Akin, Variety. Akin feels he could not have was the overarching theme for me’ – Variety. made the film in Tbilisi if he were not from Sweden or without Georgian producer Ketie Danelia, who

Preview screening courtesy of Peccadillo