Tbilisi, Georgia
Tbilisi International Film Festival
Where Caucasian Cinema Meets the World
Tier 2In plain English
Tbilisi International Film Festival is the premier film event in the South Caucasus, serving as a cultural bridge between Eastern European, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern cinema traditions. It has carved a strong regional identity by championing Georgian and neighboring post-Soviet cinema while maintaining genuine openness to international arthouse and documentary work. Filmmakers with stories rooted in underrepresented cultures, transitional societies, or Eurasian geographies will find an unusually engaged and contextually literate audience here.
Score breakdown
SovereignScore™ dimensions
Great for
- ✓ Providing exceptional regional exposure across Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the broader post-Soviet arthouse circuit where few Western festivals have reach
- ✓ Genuinely curating culturally specific narratives — films about identity, displacement, and social transition resonate deeply with both jury and audiences here
- ✓ Offering a warm, intimate filmmaker experience with strong institutional hospitality from the Georgian National Film Center, making first-time international submitters feel genuinely supported
Not worth it if
- ✗ Generating Hollywood or major streaming deals — international sales agents and Netflix/A24-level buyers are largely absent from the delegate pool
- ✗ Boosting careers outside the European and regional arthouse circuit; credits here carry limited name recognition in North American or East Asian markets
- ✗ Accommodating genre films, horror, action, or high-concept commercial projects that fall outside the festival's arthouse-leaning programming identity
Best for these genres
Filmmaker tips
- Submit films with strong cultural specificity or a clear sense of place — the programmers actively favor work that challenges Eurocentric narratives without being didactic about it
- Reach out to the Georgian National Film Center before submitting if your film has any Georgian co-production element or thematic connection; this can meaningfully support your selection prospects
- Plan to attend in person if selected — the festival's networking value is almost entirely relationship-based and happens in physical spaces, not through online delegate platforms
Notable alumni films
- Tangerines (Mandariinid) — Zaza Urushadze's Oscar-nominated Georgian-Estonian war drama screened in the regional spotlight
- Beginning (Dasatskisi) — Dea Kulumbegashvili's debut feature, later a Cannes winner, had early Georgian festival exposure
- What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? — Alexandre Koberidze's internationally celebrated Georgian film was supported by the local festival ecosystem
- Landscape in the Mist — retrospective and regional classic programming has featured Angelopoulos works central to Tbilisi's curatorial identity
Submission details
- Typical deadline
- September
- Festival month
- December
- Short submission fee
- $20
- Feature submission fee
- $35
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