Taming the Garden

Year: 2021
Country: Switzerland, Germany, Georgia
Director: Salomé Jashi
Genre: documentary
Runtime: 90 min.
Age: 12+

An ode to the rivalry between humans and nature,

A powerful man and anonymous man has developed an unusual hobby. He buys century-old trees, some as tall as 15-story buildings, from communities along the Georgian coast and has them excavated to collect them for his private garden. In order to transplant trees of such dimensions, the landscape surrounding them is ripped apart and the people living around them are forced to adapt to the disruption. As the film follows this process, it portrays the needs and values of today’s Georgian society and reflects on the theme of forced migration, where "uprooting" is more than a metaphor.

Awards & Festivals:

Docudays UA - International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival 2021 Main Prize
CineFest Miskolc Winner of the CineDocs Film Competition
CinéDOC Tbilisi Special Jury Mention
Cinéma du Réel - festival international du film documentaire 2021 Mention Spéciale (Prix du Jury des Jeunes)
FICMEC - Festival Internacional de Cine Medioambiental de Canarias 2021 Best Feature Documentary 
FICUNAM - Festival Internacional de Cine UNAM 2021 Best Feature Film 
Golden Apricot International Film Festival FIPRESCI Award of the Regional Panorama
Film Art Festival Mecklenburg-Pomerania Best Documentary 
IFF Message to Man Best Documentary 
International Filmfestival ELBE DOCK Special Mention 
Visioni dal Mondo International Jury Special Mention
Majordocs Special Jury Award for Artistic Achievement 
Qara Film Festival Special Jury Prize 
Underhill Fest Best Film in International Competition