Speaker
93 min | Georgian (with subtitles in English) | 2012 | Georgia, France, Luxembourg
How long can a smile mask systemic rot?
Under the guise of a demographic initiative to promote motherhood, ten women—each with at least three children—are selected to compete in the Georgian Mothers Contest, a national televised pageant. The contest claims to celebrate their sacred role as the nation’s life-givers.
Living in extreme poverty and fleeing the scars of war, they are forced to perform domesticity, endure bikini rounds, and auction off their personal tragedies for television ratings. As they are judged through the lens of male expectation, the competition becomes a desperate, humiliating struggle for a $25,000 prize that represents their only hope for survival. Keep Smiling reveals the dark truth of a society that puts mothers on a pedestal only to keep women under its thumb.
Screened in nearly 200 international festivals, receiving over 50 awards, this film was Georgia’s official submission for the Academy Awards. Following the screening, director Rusudan Chkonia will be in conversation with the audience.
Speaker
Rusudan Chkonia
Rusudan Chkonia is a director, writer, and producer drawn to ensemble narratives, situations where many voices coexist, collide, and reshape one another. Her films are interested in how people learn to inhabit roles, and what happens when those roles begin to fracture.
Her first feature premiered at the Venice Film Festival; her second at the Beijing International Film Festival. Keep Smiling, her third, travelled to nearly 200 international festivals, received over 50 awards, and was selected as Georgia’s official submission for the Academy Awards. She has taught at the Venice Film Festival, with a masterclass focused on directing ensemble casts.
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