Georgian director Mariam Bitsadze, currently studying in the joint Master’s program of ECAL (Lausanne) and HEAD (Geneva), has been selected for the Film Foundry section of the Locarno Film Festival with her short film Sous la table, a program dedicated to showcasing bold and promising new voices in European cinema.
The film was made in just three weeks and is composed as a single continuous shot. It was created during an intensive workshop in Cluj, Romania, under the guidance of renowned Romanian director Radu Jude. The project was also awarded ECAL’s Jacqueline Veuve Prize, given to a student whose work has made a significant contribution to the school’s artistic identity.
In addition to the screening, Mariam was also selected as one of the participating artists in BaseCamp Locarno – an international creative residency and laboratory that brings together emerging talents from around the world during the festival.
Mariam’s debut film The Feast premiered at the Toronto International Women Film Festival and went on to win main awards at film festivals in Belgium, Turin, and Tbilisi.
Biography of the director:
Mariam Bitsadze is a Georgian filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist with a background in psychotherapy. She is the founder of 17/07, a boutique production company based in Georgia, currently developing several creative documentaries—among them Sacred Songs, which she co-wrote. The film explores the lives of Muslim women and the resilience of Sufi traditions in Georgia. Her work moves between fiction and documentary, often focusing on post-Soviet identity, memory, and personal transformation. Her debut fiction short, The Feast, starring her mother, won the Grand Prix at the Tbilisi International Film Festival.
Mariam is currently based in Geneva, where she is pursuing a Master’s degree in Cinema at ECAL/HEAD (Lausanne and Geneva’s art schools).
She is a member of the European Film Academy, the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE), the EWA Network, and serves on the board of DOCA, the Georgian Documentary Association.
In 2024, she was recognized in Forbes Georgia’s 30 Under 30 list for her contribution to the cinema.
