Georgian director Levan Koguashvili’s “Brighton 4th” won two honours at the 2nd edition of the Casablanca Independent Film Festival. The film participated in the international game competition and won the best director (Levan Koguashvili) and best actor (Levan Tediashvili) awards.
Brighton 4th is a co-production between Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, Monaco and the United States with the support of the IA National Film Center. Bulgarian producer is “Art Fest” (Stefan Kitanov and Mira Staleva). The film’s world premiere was in 2021 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, where it won 3 awards, including one for the best movie ever.
The film stars Georgian wrestling legend Levan Tediashvili, a two-time Olympic and five-time freestyle world champion. His first world title came from Sofia in 1971. Tediashvili was awarded the Tribeca Best Actor Award for his first appearance in cinema. Giorgi Tabidze and Nadia Mihalkova are still in the roles. The film’s screenplay is Boris Frumin’s work, starring Levan Koguashvili.
Behind the camera is Hollywood cameraman Fedon PapaMichael (who worked with directors such as Alexander Payne, James Mangold, Wim Venders, Roger Corman, and Diane Keaton). Part of the Bulgarian participation is Eka Bichinashvili’s costumes and Svetlozar Georgiev’s sound.
As per Wikipedia, Levan Koguashvili was born in 1973 in Tbilisi, Georgia. After Georgia’s civil war broke out, he started working as a journalist for independent television while continuing his studies at a film centre in Tbilisi.
His debut feature film was produced in 2010 and garnered numerous international awards, including the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Absurdity and despair, in equal measure, infuse the decaying urban landscape of the Tbilisi-set Street Days.”
The Special Jury Award for “section New Horizons” at the 2013 Abu Dhabi Film Festival was given to his second film, Blind Dates, which was released in 2013.
His third feature film, Brighton 4th, won the best picture award at Asian World Film Festival took place in Los Angeles, USA. Now, Brighton 4th won two honours at the 2nd edition of the Casablanca Independent Film Festival.