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Artist: Luka Gotsiridze / Music: Pink Martini
In Miami Sunrises, I explore my weekly ritual of greeting the sunrise and connecting with the water as forms of resistance and coping mechanism against adversity that I faced in the U.S. legal landscape.
Growing up by the Black Sea in Batumi, Georgia, I have cultural and emotional ties to the beach scenery and water, two elements that, in this case, served as harnessing cultural memories, finding solace and healing in the face of chaos and uncertainty.
Pink Martini’s song, Malagueña, was originally composed by a Cuban composer, Ernesto Lecuona. However, as it is known, Lecuona was inspired by Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s Souvenirs d’Andalousie (Memories of Andalusia) that invoked memories of a distant place and time in me but also reflected my own range of emotions at the moment – from restlessness to tranquility.
2023. South Beach, Miami, Florida.
Directing & Editing: Luka Gotsiridze / Acting: Mariia Pankova
In Coexistence, I explore the relationship between a naked female body and a sacred prayer-chant of the Georgian Christian Orthodoxy.
I invite audiences to think of our bodies as natural and divine that can coexist harmoniously with religion that often times shames the body, thus shames ourselves, through preaching itself as spirituality that self-promotes modesty and chastity.
2023. Creek Waterfall, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.
Directing & Editing: Luka Gotsiridze / Acting: Mariia Pankova, Aya Rebai; Official Selection for Lift-Off Global Network Film Festival.
In a Georgian village, a person has recently passed away and the community is preparing for the funeral. An audio recording captures the heated debates and discussions surrounding the feast that will be prepared for the mourners.
The video focuses on the performativity of funerals and the role of women in Georgian culture in orchestrating it, often in a grotesque manner. The importance of food is emphasized, particularly the abundance that must be presented at the funeral.
I question the necessity of these performative rituals, which often overshadow the true purpose of mourning and celebrating the deceased’s life. Despite the solemnity of the occasion, I see death as a rebirth and question the need for excessive respect towards the body.
As the community comes together to mourn and celebrate the life of the deceased, the video explores the cultural and societal expectations surrounding funerals and how they can obscure the true emotions and feelings of grief.
2022. Tivoli, New York.
Artist: Luka Gotsiridze; Music Pieces: Ariel Marx, Nika Chokheli & Nina Kipshidze
Everything is the Mindset is an interactive video-installation that explores the perception of time in relation to our experiences when weighed down by grief, stress, and other similar emotions.
During this period, the time can appear to stretch endlessly and seem hopeless, stagnant, frustrating. I invite audiences to think of perspectives and mindsets as powerful tools for resilience and healing.
2022. Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.
In this series, I incorporate elements of nature and surroundings to draw attention to details that might often go unnoticed or are conventionally overlooked.
The emphasis is on evocation and the shared human experience to build a narrative by engaging with the dance of the eyes and ears.
I integrate experimental transitions of footage, diverse colors, and music that harmonize with the visual element.
Directing, Editing and Narration: Luka Gotsiridze; Casting: Maddy Sb, Mostafa Abd El Aziz; Poem: Charles Bukowski; Music: Dato Khujadze
Poetic Exploration of Gender Dysphoria is a short film that touches upon profound feelings of unease and distress that queer individuals often times encounter when their gender identity clashes with societal preconceptions.
The film uses Charles Bukowski’s poem as a narrative theme that juxtaposes Bukowski as a homophobe but also alludes to his poem that is about a suppressed blue bird, concealed in a person’s heart.
2021. Vienna, Austria.
Editing and Audio Mixing: Luka Gotsiridze; Footage: Kendra Caruso; Poem: Maya Angelou; Music: Dato Khujadze, Vazha Azarashvili
La Llorona [The Weeping Woman] is a direct response to the immigration policies of the Trump administration. It critiques the political climate and illustrates injustices faced by those who seek and work hard for dignified lives.
The film engages with the theme through Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘Still I Rise,’ to which I have a personal connection as I was previously an immigrant worker in the restaurant industry on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The poem encapsulates my emotional dimensions of undignified, underappreciated and overworked experiences. Experiences that are realities of the notion sold by the ‘American Dream.’
It’s a critique of economic disparities, social divides and exploitation of immigrant workers.
To note, the people depicted in the footage don’t correspond to the themes of the film as the audio and visual choices are intentionally subverted to engage with the manipulated political narratives through which immigrant workers’ lives are shaped and controlled.
2019. Orono, Maine.
Directing and Editing: Luka Gotsiridze; Casting: Dimitrije Ristic; Music: Utsnobi
Beliefs of the Rights is an exploration of perspectives associated with individuals situated on the [far] right side of the political spectrum. Central to this exploration is the criticism of attitudes toward what are commonly perceived as liberal values, including feminism, anti-racism, and anti-homophobia movements.
One prominent theme that emerges is a pervasive sense of cynicism and irony surrounding liberal values. Those on the [far] right often view the ideals of the left as naive or misguided. There is a belief that the pursuit of equality and social justice, as advocated by liberals, is overly optimistic and detached from the complexities of human and life.
2019. Orono, Maine.
Editing & Sound Effects: Luka Gotsiridze; Film: Andrei Tarkovsky; Music: Asea Sool
In this work, I incorporate various sounds, such as those of a vending machine, creaking doors, and the mechanics of an elevator, to manipulate the original auditory landscape of Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Solaris.’
Through this piece, I invite audiences to challenge conventional norms of sensory perceptions and to reflect on their ordinary and daily sensory experiences that often go unnoticed. Tarkovsky’s work is deliberately employed, as the director himself encouraged the use of subversive techniques.
2019. Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.
Directing and Editing: Luka Gotsiridze; Casting: Nina Kutubidze, Lara Kapovic, Tamar Chanidze; Production Assistance: Mariam Gugushvili
Story of Ella is a fictional story that explores the connection between religious teachings and the female body. The film employs the symbolism of clothing as a metaphor for veiling and concealing the inner self as well as Sufi whirling—an act of spinning that becomes a symbol of transcendence, an abandonment of one’s ego and personal desires. It represents a spiritual journey between the earthly and divine realms.
The film investigates the themes of societal constructs, confinement, identity, dogma, surrender, connection, and the quest for a higher understanding.
The full film is not available for public viewing due to ethical considerations.
2019. Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.
Directing and Editing: Luka Gotsiridze; Story by: Abolaji Akinyemi;
This short documentary is an artistic reinterpretation and subversion of the idea conveyed by ‘Reckless Love’ – a song written by Caleb Culver, Cory Asbury and Ran Jackson.
The full film is not available for public viewing due to ethical considerations.
2019. Orono, Maine.
Luka Gotsiridze 