The Drummer reviewed from The Golden Apricot Film Festival

The Golden Apricot Film Festival,  now in its twentieth year, always tends to spotlight films from countries in the region which are not likely to get much exposure at other festivals.  This, in addition, of course, to a wide selection of other films from around the world and prize winners from top festivals such as  Cannes and  Venice.

The first, “Magic Mountain” (by Mariam Chachia and Nik Voigt) was a documentary about a remote Tuberculosis Asylum in the mountains of Eastern Georgia.
Full review here!

 

The second film of the day was “The Drummer” by director Kote Kalandadze.This focuses on a young man who was a bullied outsider in school but emerges with a remarkable talent for band style drumming.  He is terribly discontent with life in Georgia

but his misery is somewhat relieved when he strikes up a relationship with a pretty young girl. However the band has now scheduled a European tour where our young hero hopes to escape to the outside world.  Lots of Pot is smoked and cocaine snorted in this bleak study of youth in current day Georgia, which seems to be influenced by similar drug laden American films of the sixties.  I never found out if our hero made it out because It was too depressing to sit this out to the very end.

Politically things in Georgia are in turmoil at the moment but a strong contingent of  filmmakers continue to keep the film industry going nonstop.