Early '90s, in Tbilisi, the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The country is facing violence, war on the Black Sea coast, and vigilante justice that plague society. But for Eka and Natia, fourteen-year-old inseparable friends, life just unfolds - in the street, at school, with friends, or Eka's elder sister. Although they are already dealing with men's dominance, early marriage, and disillusioned love,...

"In the republic of Georgia, the Communists are long gone, replaced by ... well, by what? Something much more confusing, that's for sure. There are no jobs in the cities. And when there are jobs, employees aren't compensated. And when they are compensated, it's because the jobs are ... not strictly scrupulous. In the village, life goes on much as it always did, but these days, the homemade farmers cheese is giving way to the oil pipeline. And as for...

"A filmmaker puts out a casting call for young adults, aged 15 to 23. The director wants to make a film about growing up in her home country, Georgia, and find commonalities across social and ethnic lines. She travels through cities and villages interviewing the candidates who responded and filming their daily lives. The boys and girls who responded to the call are radically different from one another, as are their personal reasons for auditioning....

"Lies and double-crosses, secret police and explosions, a carriage chase, a mattress stuffed with cash and a one-eyed master of disguise ... In 1907, the revolutionary Joseph Djugashvili - who would later take the name Joseph Stalin - met with an old friend, a clerk at the Tiflis branch of the State Bank of the Russian Empire, for a glass of milk. Over talk of national pride, the spirit of the new century and Djugashvili's poetry, they agreed the...