Since Otar Left

Running time: 102 Minutes
Rated: M

Released by Palace Films in Australia and New Zealand in October, Since Otar Left is the first feature from documentary filmmaker Julie Bertuccelli.

It is a subtle story of a lie for love that changes the lives of three women of three different generations.

The deserving winner of the grand prize in the International Critics Week at Cannes in 2003, Since Otar Left (Depuis qu'Otar est parti) is an exquisitely bittersweet drama set in Tbilisi, the crumbling capital of the post-Soviet republic of Georgia. Three generations of women - the stoically beautiful Ada (Dinara Droukarova), her lusty mother Marina (Nino Khomassouridze) and whip smart grandmother Eka (Esther Gorintin) - live together in a book-filled apartment. When news comes that Marina's brother Otar has been killed on the job in France, Marina and Ada decide to conceal his death rather than break Eka's heart. Yet their lie soon spawns larger and larger ones.

Wise and perfectly judged, this feature debut hits all the right marks. Though it has some wonderfully comic moments, for women especially, this film aims directly at the heart.

"Julie Bertuccelli's very beautiful first feature is suffused with indelible humanist values and emotions." David Stratton - VARIETY

" Julie Betuccelli's simple but sublime debut feature presents a portrait of maternal love and female fortitude that will reduce the stoniest of viewers to tears." Frank Scheck, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"Since Otar Left sustains a perfect balance of pathos, humour and a clear-headed realism." Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES


Opens Melbourne: October 14th at Cinema Nova, Cinema Como and Rivoli Cinema,

Opens Sydney: October 21st at Palace Verona, Palace Norton Street and Cremorne Orpheum

Opens Brisbane: October 21 exclusive to Palace Centro