Ana Urushadze of Georgia Discusses Her Buzzed-About Second Film ‘Supporting Role’

“Supporting Role” (Courtesy of Allfilm)

Georgian filmmaker Ana Urushadze, renowned for her debut “Scary Mother” which won best first feature at the Locarno Film Festival in 2017, is gearing up for her sophomore feature, “Supporting Role.” Urushadze is presenting the film at CineLink Industry Days, the industry section of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

The film revolves around a once-iconic star of Georgian cinema. A casting session with a young female director drives him into a strange and fatalistic journey of self-transformation. Accustomed to playing suave heroic leads, he feels belittled when offered a supporting role. Yet, without noticing, he starts to embrace the character and slowly accepts the role subconsciously.

Talking to Variety in Sarajevo, Urushadze revealed that the film draws inspiration from the auditions for her first feature when she sought the role of the protagonist’s father. One actor, deterred by Urushadze, who he saw as a “young and inexperienced girl,” declined the role.

“I found this really intriguing and started pondering his life and why his ego was bruised,” said Urushadze. She started viewing the situation from an outsider’s perspective, finding the dynamic between a young aspiring director and a seasoned elderly actor captivating.

Once Urushadze delved into the narrative potential of this character, numerous themes naturally surfaced. “The themes included an exploration of masculinity and the struggle to find a place in a changing world,” she said. Additionally, she touched on a common plight facing Georgian actors.

“We have many exceptionally talented actors, but sadly, the majority face the same fate: they live under low salary conditions, poor health, and a scarcity of roles — especially in films — causing their talent and potential to fade,” she added.

Veteran Georgian actor Dato Bakhtadze, known for roles in “Crash” and Timur Bekmambetov’s “Ben-Hur,” takes on the lead role of Niaz. Niaz is an aging star, long used to portraying “heroic, flawless, super-human characters,” who adopted these traits in his real life and was adored by fans, said Urushadze.

Although returning from a 15-year break due to personal issues, “time has not passed for him at all,” said Urushadze. “Due to major past traumas, he is stuck in the past, believing the outside world has remained unchanged while both the world and the people in it have moved on.”

Nata Murvanidze, who starred in “Scary Mother,” plays Niaz’s wife, while Elene Maisuradze portrays Aza, the young director who inadvertently accelerates his self-transformation, holding his fate in her hands, according to Urushadze.

Despite Niaz’s career and life seemingly being on a downward slope, “you realize that he has in fact been on an upward path regarding his self-revelation and true desires,” said Urushadze.

Urushadze’s first feature, “Scary Mother,” which focuses on a middle-aged woman finding liberation through writing her first novel, garnered top honors in Sarajevo in 2017 and was Georgia’s submission for the 90th Academy Awards. Variety’s Jessica Kiang praised it as a “darkly daring” film and “an exhilaratingly offbeat oddity.”

“Supporting Role” is produced by Davit Tsintsadze of Georgia’s Zazafilms, Ivo Felt of Allfilm in Estonia, Zeynep Atakan of Zeyno Film in Turkey, Andrey Epifanov of Cinetrain in Switzerland, Eleonora Granata Jenkinson of Melograno Films in the U.S., and Sophio Bedenashvili and Bacho Meburishvili of Enkeny Films and Dato Bakhtadze in Georgia.

The film was shot in Georgia by Estonian cinematographer Rein Kotov and funded by the Georgian National Film Center, Estonian Film Institute, Estonian Cultural Endowment, MEDIA Programme of Creative Europe, Eurimages, and Cinetrain.

The Sarajevo Film Festival runs from Aug. 16 – 23.