A film about Georgian refugees won a prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival.

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The Best Director Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) was awarded to "Life in Kartli," a film about refugees from Abkhazia who have been living in the abandoned Kartli sanatorium for over 30 years.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," according to the Georgian government, there are over 267,000 internally displaced persons from Abkhazia and South Ossetia registered in the country. These are people who fled their homes after the Georgian-Abkhazian war of 1992-1993 and the conflict with South Ossetia in 2008.

A film about the lives of Georgian refugees has won a prize at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA), Georgia Online reported on November 23.

The film "Life in Kartli" by Georgian director Tamar Kalandadze and French photographer Julien Pebrel won the prize for best director and was also awarded a special mention for best debut. The film tells the story of the inhabitants of the abandoned Kartli sanatorium. People forced to leave Abkhazia have lived in this former Soviet health resort for over 30 years.

During the awards ceremony, Tamar Kalandadze expressed gratitude to the Georgian political prisoners, promising that together they will "save this beautiful country." She specifically mentioned Anastasia Zinovkina, Artem Gribul, Anton Chechin, and Afgan Sadygov in her speech. "These people are not ethnic Georgians, although they have already become national heroes," the publication quotes her as saying.

Russian citizens Artem Gribul and Anastasia Zinovkina, who participated in protests in Tbilisi, were arrested in December 2024 on drug trafficking charges. They claim evidence was planted against them, and security forces resorted to threats. On September 12, a Tbilisi court sentenced both to 8.5 years in prison. Anton Chechin, a protester, received the same sentence on a similar charge. The Tbilisi City Court sentenced Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov to 14 days of administrative arrest, finding him one of those who blocked traffic on Rustaveli Avenue. He was also fined the equivalent of almost $100,000 for participating in protests.

Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia after Russia intervened in the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia on August 8, 2008, and subsequently recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Details of the armed conflict can be found in the Caucasian Knot's report on the "Five-Day War" of 2008.