WHEN YOU ARE 17
Giorgi Mukhadze
Terra Incognita Films, Unafilm (GE, DE), fiction
Summer in Tbilisi. AMO, JESSICA and GURO, three teenagers get caught up in a frenzy of drugs, sex, and water polo. A fatal love story.
The romantic affection of a 17-year-old Yezidi boy takes a dark turn, as he wanders through the ghetto of Tbilisi with his drug-dealer friend, discovering the bittersweet taste of life.
GIORGI MUKHADZE / IMDB
GIORGI MUKHADZE graduated as a film director from Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University. He has worked as a director, screenwriter, and independent producer until he established his own production house Terra Incognita Films, in 2019. His first short film, WAITING FOR ANA premiered at Karlovy Vary IFF. He worked as creative consultant on the acclaimed LGBT drama AND THEN WE DANCED, which premiered at Cannes in 2019. Currently, he is working on his feature film debut WHEN YOU ARE 17, which is a Georgian-German co-production. He is also producing several shorts and features through TIF. In 2021, he founded Zaira Arsenishvili Script Development Residence in Telavi which is now held annually.Since 2022, he has been teaching film at Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University.
Director’s statement:
This is not the story of my life, but it could have been. It didn't take place in that chronological order, but the story that unveils in the film did occur. It might have happened to me, it might have happened to my Yezidi friend who still serves time in a Greek prison, or even to my classmate girl who was a diver. I did not invent this story. I just collected my memories and that of others and put them back together. To be fully honest, I did not even collect them, they have been brewing inside of me only to become the narrative for this film.
Where are we at?
Total budget: 230.000,00 EUR
Financing in place: 205.000,00 EUR
Sales agent: /
Territories available: World
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Production company profile
TERRA INCOGNITA FILMS is a Tbilisi-based independent film company, founded by Giorgi Mukhadze and Giorgi Kobalia in 2019. They came together after working in different fields in the film industry and established a company, which finds, develops, and produces projects regionally, as well as internationally. Terra Incognita Films is mainly oriented toward creating author films. Producers are focused on finding and developing new, exceptional voices.