Square Eyes Acquires ‘The Kartli Kingdom’ Ahead of IDFA World Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Vienna-based sales outlet Square Eyes has secured international rights to “The Kartli Kingdom,” directed by Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel. The film is set to world premiere in the International Competition at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), taking place Nov. 13-23.

“Kartli” refers both to Georgia’s medieval kingdom and a Tbilisi sanatorium sheltering refugees from the 1990s war in Abkhazia, meant as temporary but lasting 30 years. The collapsing building became a recreated “country”: a farm, garden, terraces, and rooms where old VHS tapes revive memories of Abkhazia, their lost paradise. Through Tamuna, Irma and others, the film reveals the exile’s trauma and shared resilience. Even if time seems frozen in Kartli’s walls, nothing stays the same.

“Our film narrates a community’s story through the shelter of Kartli: past, present and imagined future, lending gentleness, violence, sadness, memories, and humor,” Kalandadze and Pebrel commented. “These layers of time merge in editing, combining image and sound materials. Memories, words and tales of Kartli’s past shape its inhabitants’ lives, forming foundational myths. These stories, like an underground stream, resurface during conversations, interrupting scenes we filmed. Archival footage adds bursts of collective memory, showing the 1992 war’s impact on the community.”

“We love how the film gives us a glimpse inside the walls of the Kartli sanatorium, where the collective memory of the 1992 war in Abkhazia and the current lives of the residents mix into a touching and poetic documentary,” stated Wouter Jansen, CEO of Square Eyes. “The mix of these two narratives makes the film a perfect match for our catalog.”

“The Kartli Kingdom” is produced by Ketevan Kipiani for Giorgia’s Sakdoc Film and Jean-Baptiste Bonnet for Habilis Productions in France. Square Eyes is in charge of world sales.