Synopsis
An old railway platform in a remote valley of Georgia suddenly becomes a site for a big change, when hundreds of Chinese settle around it to build the New Silk Road.A scarcely populated mountainous gorge is a mysterious place. Protected by mountains and forest all around, it looks like being frozen in time: old railway platform, wooden houses, wild nature. Old local train rattles around twice a day – the only mean of communication for most of the villagers. But when echoes of explosions reach the village, it becomes obvious that things are going to change here for good. A big black hole appears in the mountain as a sign that newcomers have arrived. Hundreds of Chinese settle in a remote Georgian village to build a modernized railway that will link China and Europe.
An extraordinary closeness, a sense for the visual atmosphere ... a film that says a lot about our current period of geopolitical tensions, contested identities and a globalized world of work and capital. Dramatic but never exaggerated, the film identifies the events of a small village as a clash between past and future, between those who have and those who have not, in which we all have a role [Jury Report, Best Movie Grand Prix in Trento Film Festival]
Previously known with its working title The Platform, it was shortlisted for the Hong Kong Film Financing Forum and benefited from support by IDFA's Bertha Fund.