Georgia / USA,
2003, 78 min
Shown in 2003
CREDITS
- dir
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Paul Devlin
- prod
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Paul Devlin, Claire Missanelli
- cam
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Paul Devlin, Valery Odikadze
- editor
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Paul Devlin
- source
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272 First Ave. #12H, New York, NY 10009. FAX: 775-628-8293. EMAIL: pdevlin@nyc.rr.com.
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COMMENTS
Screened with Petra. Paul Devlin, Claire Missanelli in person.
OTHER
The chaotic transition from communism to capitalism is magnified when American power company AES attempts to regulate electricity in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. This is documentary as black comedy as the idealistic executives gamely attempt to lay a modern framework over ancient systems. They are faced not only with tangled nests of hazardous cables but with the snarled web of dishonest politicians, commercial and residential customers, and employees. The Georgian people live their lives with constant blackouts and now are being told they must pay for the power that was always free. The people, businesses and government all steal electricity and cleverly create new forms of power piracy to counteract the systems the Americans install. The clash between large multinational company and small, impoverished nation becomes increasingly absurd. AES employees gleefully recount unorthodox and dangerous methods of persuading their negligent commercial customers into paying. Smoke saturates a board meeting in blatant contradiction to a large No Smoking sign posted in the room. Protests, assassinations and pervasive corruption all contribute to an atmosphere of lawlessness and disorder in the capital city of Tbilisi contrasted with the serene beauty of the Caucasus mountains. The story of one utility engagingly illuminates the state of a nation in upheaval.
—Molli Amara Simon
FACTOID #44
Fred Astaire (alas without his top hat and tails) became the first actor honored with an in-person tribute at the Festival October 30, 1966. Astaire so enjoyed his interview with Festival programmer Albert Johnson, the balletic performer danced with his host onstage.
