– Alexandre Koberidze’s picture has won Best Film, while Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel received the Best Director gong for The Kartli Kingdom
Dry Leaf by Alexandre Koberidze
Georgia’s independent national Eliso Awards, established in 2024 by London-based actress Natalia Jugheli through the Nato Vachnadze Foundation – named after her great-grandmother, a pioneering actress of Georgian cinema – held its third edition last Saturday in the Nato Vachnadze House Museum.
Alexandre Koberidze’s Locarno 2025 Special Mention winner Dry Leaf received the Best Film Award from the jury, comprising filmmakers Angela Schanelec, Małgorzata Szumowska and Lea Glob, as well as Georgian film theorist Theo Khatiashvili and cinematographer Giorgi Shvelidze.
“We shot our film in Georgia, and winning an award at home is particularly important to us,” said Koberidze. “I feel that ‘Eliso’ marks the beginning of a new tradition, and it is an honour to be part of it alongside other filmmakers.”
The Best Director Award went to Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel for The Kartli Kingdom, which also won Best Directing and a Special Mention in the First Feature Competition at IDFA last year. Another documentary, 9-Month Contract by Ketevan Vashagashvili, winner of Human Rights Award at CPH:DOX 2025, received a Special Mention.
DoP and director Shalva Sokurashvili won Best Cinematography for The Pipe, while Anka Gujabidze and Levan Butkhuzi received Best Editing for Anka Gujabidze’s IFFR 2025 Short Tiger Competition entry Temo Re.
A Tbilisi IFF 2025 prizewinner, the documentary Nobody in Sight by director-editor-composer Kote Kalanadze bagged Best Original Music, while Nini Iashvili picked up Best Acting for her role in Papuna Mosidze’s City Noise. The three non-professional boys from The Pipe secured a Special Mention.
Finally, the Nato Vachnadze Honorary Award was presented to photographer Natela Grigalashvili.
“As a member of this year’s jury, I was very impressed by such a high level of cinema in the space of just one year’s edition,” said Glob. “I am honoured to have had a chance to celebrate Georgian cinema with the filmmakers, actors and actresses in this precious historical setting.”
Jugheli added: “The third edition was especially important for us, as Eliso has become a consistent way to recognise and celebrate film workers in Georgia. In the future, we aim to grow and include more categories. It is also a bittersweet year, as it is our first without our founding member Eldar Shengelaia.”
Here is the full list of Eliso Award winners:
Best Film
Dry Leaf – Alexandre Koberidze (Germany/Georgia)
Best Director
Tamar Kalandadze, Julien Pebrel – The Kartli Kingdom (Georgia/France)
Special Mention
Ketevan Vashagashvili – 9-Month Contract (Georgia/Bulgaria/Germany)
Best Cinematography
Shalva Sokurashvili – The Pipe (Georgia)
Best Editing
Anka Gujabidze, Levan Butkhuzi – Temo Re (Georgia)
Best Original Music
Kote Kalandadze – Nobody in Sight (Georgia)
Best Acting
Nina Iashvili – City Noise (Georgia)
Special Mention
Tato Okriashvili, Rati Abramishvi, Saba Tsikl – The Pipe
Nato Vachnadze Honorary Award
Natela Grigalashvili
