Leiden University Student Repository

Coler, Riley (2024)

Soviet from above, Georgian from below: Tbilisi as a film city during and after occupation

Bachelor thesis | Urban Studies (BA)

This paper explores the role of the city in film using Tbilisi, Georgia as a case study. Tbilisi’s history of occupation and intermittent independence makes it an interesting opportunity to observe the effects of the “film city” on promotion and suppression of national identity, freedom of self-expression in the city, and efforts to create a certain image of the city. This research focuses on two films, one being made during the period of occupation and another made a few decades after it ended. From their differing portrayals of Tbilisi, in which the city plays vastly different roles, the analysis finds that the film city can either reinforce or subvert the filmmaker’s intended messages. The city brings unexpected and unwelcome complications to films that try to control or homogenize its image.

Film city, representations of cities, national identity, small cinema, imaging and anchoring cities

Author

Coler, Riley

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Kersbergen, S. + ten Broeke, P.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en