Mzis qalaqi

First Prize for the Best Feature Length Documentary

The lives, dreams and destinies of extraordinary characters unfold amidst the ruins of a semiabandoned mining town. Music teacher keeps demolishing the city to build a new life for himself and his family; miner-turned-actor lives in a limbo unable to make a decision between his passion (theater) and money (working at the mines); and two malnourished champion athletes have to keep running just to survive.

Main Festivals & Awards

Berlin International Film Festival - Berlinale (2017)

Director's Biography

Rati Oneli was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. He has lived in New York from 1999 to 2014 when he moved to Georgia in order to make his documentary City of the Sun. He is specialized in Middle East Studies, as well as International Affairs both at Free University Tbilisi and Columbia University in New York. He currently pursues PhD in Philosophy at the European Graduate School.

In 2014, he produced and co-edited Invisible Spaces, a short film that premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival and was nominated for Palme d'Or. In 2016, Lethe premiered at the Director’s Fortnight, Cannes International Film Festival.

City of the Sun is Oneli’s first feature-length documentary.