ABASTUMANI

Mariam Chachia, the director, films life in the former ABASTUMANI sanatorium in the mountains of Georgia for over 5 years. People who suffer from tuberculosis live there and are excluded from society.

She herself is a former tuberculosis patient, which she kept secret, even from friends, for many years, as people in Georgia with this disease were stigmatized in the past.

In order to end the ongoing nightmare of her illness, she consciously confronts herself once again with this illness and the lives of those who are patients in ABASTUMANI.

There, Mariam experiences a world with its own rules, in which patients have power over doctors and nurses. She delves into the individual fates of the people in this old building, which they can often only leave with the certainty of death..

The target group is announced very broadly, as this unique story from a unique microcosm is aimed at a very universal topic that affects and touches people all over the world.

Mariam felt guilty for something that was actually not her fault. She did not cause her illness herself. Nevertheless, she was afraid that someone would find out about her tuberculosis; even years after her recovery.

The former ABASTUMANI sanatorium was built more than a hundred years ago by the Romanows, the last Russian royal family, and has survived all historical and political changes in Georgia. Finally, in 2018, it was bought by a powerful oligarch who had become wealthy from its proximity to Russia. He had demolished it in 2019 in order to build a hotel complex that is now shielded from the outside world.

ABASTIMANI no longer exists and the film is the only proof that that special microcosm ever existed and all the touching and unique stories of the people living there actually happened..

After all, it is also a film about the power of oligarchs, who are able to steer politics, influence the life of an entire country and ultimately "retell" their own country's history.

The project is in the post-production phase and there are only very limited opportunities for public funding worldwide. Funding opportunities exist primarily for the development of documentary films and their production itself.

Therefore, the team is in trouble to be able to finish the film. Comparatively, there isn't much lack of money, but the necessary expenses are currently so high that the completion of the film could fail. The editing of the film, the audio design, the mixing and the color grading have to be financed.

The director, her co-director Nik Voigt and the German co-producer Hans Gralke say that the film is obviously very important right now, if you look at what is happening in Ukraine. But not only there, all over the world, powerful politicians and entrepreneurs use their position to change the development of a country in their personal interest.

Ultimately, the film has a real chance of being screened at festivals. Two TV stations from Poland and the Czech Republic have already announced that they want to show the film. It must therefore be completed now.

First of all, the money shall be used to pay the editor who is supposed to finish editing the film. 2 x 2 weeks are planned for the cut. €8,000.00 is required for this.

Then, in the second step, the audio design, the sound mixing and the color grading are to be financed.

All the people working on this film have so far made the production possible with their own money and a lot of commitment. The final work, which has a total budget of €45,000.00, can no longer be carried out without financial support from outside.

A first, very important step in completing the film is the editing, for which we calculate €8,000.00. And it is precisely this sum that we set as the first milestone in post-production and thus also as the starting level for crowdfunding (€10,000.00 minus fees and taxes).