Private Project

Children of Nikozi

Nikozi is a small village in central Georgia about one kilometer away from Russian-occupied Georgian territory. During the Russian-Georgian War of August 2008, Nikozi was almost completely destroyed. Many innocent lives were lost; many more were internally displaced. Villages through and around the conflict zone were emptied, and the illegal borderization by Russian troops continues to this day. It seemed that the same fate was awaiting Nikozi.
Then, in 2009, the Archbishop of Nikozi and Tskhinvali Region tried to maintain the village population and create opportunities for the children there. A former animator himself, he opened up a free art school and welcomed everyone, regardless of religion or race, to take part in rebuilding the community. What is more, he started an International Animation Film Festival, in a place without resources or infrastructure—a festival without competition, a festival full of different nationalities singing together around the shared table.

  • Nino Benashvili
    Director
  • Nino Benashvili
    Writer
  • Nino Benashvili
    Producer
  • Michaël Dudok de Wit
    Featured
    Academy Award Winning Director & Animator (Father and Daughter, Red Turtle)
  • Paul Bush
    Featured
    Award winning Director & Animator (The Albatross,While Darwin Sleeps)
  • Stepan Biryukov
    Featured
    Award winning Director & Animator (Sosedi, Podarki Chernogo Vorona)
  • Nino Benashvili
    Editor
  • Nino Benashvili
    Composer
  • Jonathan Braithwaite
    Composer
  • Giorgi Koridze
    Sound Mixer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    ნიქოზის შვილები / Children of Nikozi
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    30 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Georgia
  • Country of Filming:
    Georgia
  • Language:
    English, Georgian, Russian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival
    Houston, Texas
    United States
    Bronze Remi Award
  • Ischia Global Film Festival
    Ischia
    Italy
    July 21, 2021
    European Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Nino Benashvili

Nino Benashvili is a Georgian filmmaker and photographer, currently based in New York City.

Her debut award winning medium-length documentary Children of Nikozi is a story of a war-torn village in the ongoing conflict zone of Nikozi, Georgia, where the villagers turned to art for healing.

Nino has been accepted at N.Y.U. Tisch Graduate Film program and is beyond excited to start her studies in the fall.

She received her BA from St. John's College Annapolis, MD, where she studied philosophy, history of mathematics and science, and music.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Then...
   
One day I woke up to the screams of my summer camp leader—The Russians are coming! We were supposed to empty the camp and return to our families at once… except, as far as I knew, my family had been visiting a monastery located precisely where the conflict was happening; in the village of Nikozi and its whereabouts. This was 12 years ago, in August of 2008, and it took what felt like days to get a call from my family confirming their safety. As soon as the fire ceased, I went to Nikozi, and as I stood on the ashes of the bombed and desolate village, I knew I needed to tell its story. 
   
This was one of those stories that didn’t let me be; I knew I couldn’t drop it. Over the years I tried many creative mediums; I wrote short stories, painted images, wrote and directed a theater play.  But everything seemed a little too contrived. My Nikozi lacked reality and the distance from my country and the flowing of time didn’t help to make it any better. 

Perhaps I didn’t go back before, scared of confronting again the story I wanted to tell for so long…

Back again…

I was running up and down with my camera along the forbidden border. . . My guides yelled at me, I saw regret on their faces—the Russian border patrol shouldn’t have been toyed with. 

Later I got a call, they pleaded with me not to show their faces.

Everything was still very much divided, 12 years later… But I was to enter a new world, only physically near to that unfriendly, desolate sight. 

Children of Nikozi
 
I watched the villagers, the Archbishop, the frequent guests prepare for the festival; there was a great sense of unity. In awe I observed, filmed, and interviewed Nikozians old and young; how bravely they approached the uncertain future, how grateful they were for what little they had, and how warm heartedly they received everyone in a place where good and beautiful competes against war and destruction. 

I hope, through watching this film you can become a child of Nikozi and have a renewed desire to always work towards bettering yourself. May you feel the pleasure of peaceful coexistence but never lose awareness in the dark sides of humanity...

In this universal story of Peace and of War...