Elena Mikaberidze
THE TASTE OF PEACH
Drawn back to her roots, a young woman builds a peaceful guesthouse near a contested border, only to see her quiet dream disrupted as war and politics bring unexpected strangers to her door.
SYNOPSIS
Lili, a young Belgian-Georgian woman, returns closer to her grandmother’s native Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, to reconnect with her roots. She opens a guesthouse near the separation line, hoping to build a peaceful new life. As the geopolitical tides shift, however, and the Georgian government aligns closer with Russia rather than Europe, her small haven becomes a refuge for a desperate mosaic of humanity: Georgians caught in the crossfire, Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, and Russians escaping mobilisation. Caught between conflicting identities, Lili finds herself at the heart of a silent war.
DIRECTOR
Elena Mikaberidze
PRODUCER
Labina Mitevska
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Sisters and Brother Mitevski
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Entre chien et loup, Takes Film, Nushi Film
COUNTRIES
North Macedonia, Belgium, Georgia
Elene Mikaberidze
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Born in Georgia in 1988 and raised in Brussels, Elene Mikaberidze studied politics and earned an MA in Eastern Europe and Caucasus studies. After working in film criticism, programming, and production, she returned to Georgia in 2016 to direct her own films. An alum of programmes including IDFAcademy and EAVE, her projects have been supported by the CNC, the Belgium Film Fund, the Doha Film Institute, and the Hubert Bals Fund. Her debut feature documentary, Blueberry Dreams, premiered in the Next Wave Competition at CPH:DOX in 2024 and has since screened at numerous international festivals. She is currently developing her first fiction feature, The Taste of Peach.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I was born in Tbilisi to a Georgian father and an Abkhaz mother. When the war in Abkhazia broke out in 1992, my family fled to Belgium. I was five years old. Growing up between cultures, I carried with me a constant sense of displacement, concerned with questions about identity, belonging, and home. Years later, after many failed attempts, I was finally able to return to Abkhazia to visit my grandmother. Crossing the various checkpoints and entering a place suspended in time, I encountered a territory marked by the visible scars of war, political isolation, and divided identities. Yet, I also discovered extraordinary landscapes, warmth, humour, and resilience. This contradiction between paradise and post-war reality became the starting point for The Taste of Peach. The film is rooted in my own experience but speaks to widely asked questions of borders, separation, exile, and co-existence. Rather than telling a story of victimhood, I wanted to embrace the tragicomic spirit I found among the people living there, whose humour became a way to endure the absurdity of everyday life. As Georgia once again faces political uncertainty and increasing Russian influence, this story has become even more urgent. Through Lili's journey, I hope to explore how ordinary people continue to seek connection, dignity, and hope in a world shaped by invisible yet pertinent borders.
Labina Mitevska
PRODUCER’S BIOGRAPHY
Labina Mitevska is a producer and actor, and a co-founder of the North Macedonian production company Sisters and Brother Mitevski. For over twenty years, she has produced internationally acclaimed films that have premiered at major festivals including the Festival de Cannes, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival. She is a member of the European Film Academy and received the 2024 Eurimages International Co-Production Award. Since 2022, she has also been part of the producing team at Belgium-based Entre Chien et Loup.
PRODUCER’S STATEMENT
I was thoroughly impressed by Elene Mikaberidze’s documentary Blueberry Dreams. Her honest and direct, but respectful and very sensitive approach immediately captivated me. Coming from a charged political background, she tells stories that feel both profoundly personal and highly relevant to the tumultuous world of today. Reading The Taste of Peach reminded me of the complex situation in Ukraine and other countries that are living under the shadow of Russian influence, their form of modern colonialism. What impressed me most is the way Mikaberidze approaches these urgent and difficult issues with unwavering faith in humanity and subtle humour, spiced with a sense of absurdity that makes her take on them both accessible and deeply moving. Given her remarkable talent and distinctive visual style, I believe The Taste of Peach has the potential to become a truly unique artistic achievement and one very important film.
Production company profile
Sisters and Brother Mitevski is an independent family-run production company based in North Macedonia, founded in 2001 by producer and actor Labina Mitevska, director Teona Strugar Mitevska, and artist Vuk Mitevski. For more than two decades, the company has produced or co-produced internationally acclaimed auteur films that have premiered at the world's leading festivals, including the Berlin, Karlovy Vary, and Toronto International Film Festivals, the Venice Film Festival, the Festival de Cannes, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Their productions include God Exists, Her Name Is Petruny, which screened in the Competition at the Berlinale and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the LUX Prize, The Happiest Man in the World, which was selected for Venice and Toronto, When the Day Had No Name, and Mother, which was screened at Venice in 2025. The company has also established itself as a strong European co-production partner, collaborating with renowned filmmakers including Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Cristi Puiu, Damjan Kozole, Mathias Malzieu, and Pjer Žalica. Recent productions include Skateboarding Is Not for Girls by Dina Duma, Mother by Teona Strugar Mitevska, and the stop-motion animation Old Man and the TV by Vuk Mitevski. Producer Labina Mitevska is a member of the European Film Academy, an EAVE national representative, a former EFP Producers on the Move participant, a recipient of the 2024 Eurimages International Co-Production Award, and, since 2022, part of the producing team at Belgium's Entre Chien et Loup.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
1.470,000 €
FINANCES PENDING
75 %
FINANCING IN PLACE
25 %
Production timeline
May 2028 shooting