The title of this film seems to have an ironic undertone, because the sun is no longer shining on Chiatura, a town in western Georgia, where 50% of the world’s manganese was once mined. Today, it is a ghost town of derelict industrial plants and colossal concrete structures, while the ruins of wires and cable cars leading nowhere hang above.
The townspeople do their best amidst the decay. A man dismantles concrete walls with a hammer to sell the iron girders. When he’s not busy scavenging, Zurab is a dedicated music instructor who tries to teach mildly interested students and a lively women’s choir how to perform the right notes. Two young female athletes train stoically for the next Olympic Games, although they are malnourished. And while Archil still works in the mine, his true passion is an amateur theater group.
The landscape and buildings where the townspeople’s lives play out seem like a huge stage set. With outstanding camera work, CITY OF THE SUN manages to generate something valuable in the contrast between their lives and the architectural ruins of a past era, while presenting what humans are capable of thanks to their robustness, calmness, and ability to find happiness.
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Rati Oneli geb. 1977 in Tiflis, Georgien. Er studierte dort Orientalistik sowie International Relations and Media in New York. Zurzeit verfolgt er sein PhD in Philosophie an der European Graduate School. Rati Oneli ist als Regisseur, Produzent und Editor tätig. Er produziert zwei Kurzfilme von Dea Kulumbegashvili, die in Cannes gezeigt wurden (INVISIBLE SPACES, 2014; LETHE, 2016). MZIS QALAQI ist Onelis erster abendfüllender Film. Kurzfilme: LEITMOTIF (2012), THEO (2011).
