AND THEN WE DANCED World Cinema

SWEDEN OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM OSCAR^® SUBMISSION

Talent attending: Levan Akin (Director), Ketie Daniela (Producer), Levan Gelbakhiani (Talent), Nino Jincharadze (Producer), Bachi Valishvili (Talent)

A dancer in the National Georgian Ensemble, Merab is descended from a line of traditional dancers. The training at the academy is demanding. Its instructors are conservative and severe, maintaining the importance of foregrounding masculinity in Georgian dance. The arrival of the preternaturally talented Irakli awakens a sense of friendly competition in Merab, along with an array of more complicated emotions. An immediate and affectionate rivalry finds the two practicing with one another, then partnering in preparation for an important audition. Elegantly and sensitively helmed by Swedish director Levan Akin, this complex interpretation of homophobia seen through the inherent sexuality of dance is a twirling, rhythmic romance where the profundity of first love is heightened by the risk that exposure could threaten career and both familial and community support. –Malin Kan