MESTIA INTERNATIONAL SHORT AND MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL 29.07-02.08 2026
Program
29.07.2026 – Day I
18:30
Opening Ceremony
Mountain Film Competition
Robson – Dir. Nicholas Strauss – 0:40:00 – (Canada)
30.07.2026 – Day II
15:00
4 Stamps – 4 Lives
Book presentation on Georgian alpinism.
Authors: Khatuna Khundadze & Ivane Japaridze.
Presentation of the MESMA Foundation.
17:00 – Short Film Competition
- Samba Infinito – Dir. Leonardo Martinelli – 15:00 – (Brazil)
- Kronoshock – Dir. Ignasi López Fàbregas – 9:30 – (Spain)
- Lineage – Chapter U’wa: The Bee’s Flight – Dir. Carlos Rincón – 26:03 – (Colombia)
- Nabia – Director Sabrina D. Marques – 15:00 – (Portugal)
- Silent Applause – Dir. Abhimanyu Kanodia – 15:00 – (India)
Mountain Film Competition
19:00
Jaar – Dir. Phurba Tshering Lama – 1:41:17 – (India)
21:00
Beyond The Wetlands – Dir. Arsalan Majid – 1:30:00 – (Pakistan)
31.07.2026 – Day III
15:00 – Masterclass
International Co-production Projects and the Role of Press and PR in the Film Industry. By Guillaume de Seille – a French producer and film distributor & Dany de Seille – a Film Industry PR Manager.
17:00 – Short Film Competition
- Oh! Mother, Mother – Dir. Khatuna Tatuashvili – 15:00 – (Georgia)
- Between Salt and Sky – Dir. Felipe Rosa – 17:00 – (Bolivia, Brazil, Chile)
- Ujan – Dir. Anirban Anirban Paul – 5:48 – (India)
- Mateos Anin – Dir. Gilang Akbar Noviansah – 23:00 – (Indonesia)
- Archaic – Dir. Mathieu Le Lay – 13:33 – (France)
- Shadows of an Insurgent – Dir. Tiago Almeida – 11:00 – (Brazil)
Mountain Film Competition
19:00
Girl Climber – Dir. Jon Glassberg – 1:22:00 – (Austria)
21:00
Yana Wara – Dir. Oscar Catacora, Tito Catacora – 1:44:00 – (Peru)
1.08.2026 – Day IV
15:00 – Masterclass
From one page of synopsis till the FIPRESCI award at Toronto IFF. By Olena Yershova – Film producer, winner of more than 250 international awards.
17:00 – Short Film Competition
- A Tale of Peer Jan – Dir. Asad Nausherwani – 23:06 – (Pakistan)
- Webs of the Earth – Dir. Nayara Domingos – 15:00 – (Brazil)
- The Landscape of Human Essence – Dir. Jana Hunterová – 13:08 – (North Macedonia, United Kingdom)
- Almost Certainly False – Dir. Cansu Baydar – 20:00 – (Türkiye)
- Another’s Honor – Dir. Mina Seyyid-Məmmədova – Starring Gegi Paliani – 20:00 – (Azerbaijan)
Mountain Film Competition
19:00
Ashima – Dir. Kenji Tsukamoto – 1:30:00 – (Japan)
21:00
Radu, Are You OK?! – Dir. Radu Restivan – 1:00:00 – (Romania)
2.08.2026 – Day V
18:30
Closing Ceremony
Jim Shvante (Salt for Svaneti) – Dir. Mikhail Kalatozishvili – 0:45:00
Masterclasses
Masterclass – From One Page of Synopsis to the FIPRESCI Award at Toronto IFF
1 August, 3:00 PM
A case study of the four-country co-production behind the debut feature film Anatolian Leopard, produced by Olena Yershova.
Olena Yershova is a film producer and graduate of the Kyiv State Institute of Theatre and Cinema.
Over the years, she has served as Executive Director of the Kyiv International Film Festival, Manager of the Eurasia Film Market, and Head of the Antalya Film Forum. She founded the production company TatoFilm and works across Ukraine and Türkiye.
As a producer, Yershova has been involved in the production of 10 feature-length fiction films, 3 feature-length documentaries, and 2 short films. Her films have received more than 250 international awards, including the FIPRESCI Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival for Anatolian Leopard, as well as numerous honors at festivals around the world.
At the Tribeca Festival, Brighton 4, directed by Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili and produced by Yershova, received two awards: Best Screenplay and Best Actor.
Today, she is a co-producer of Levan Koguashvili’s latest film, Hazelnut. In addition to her work as a producer, Olena Yershova has served as a jury member at numerous prestigious international film festivals.
Masterclass – International Co-production Projects and the Role of Press and PR in the Film Industry
31 July 2026, 3:00 PM
Guillaume de Seille is a French producer and film distributor, and the head of Arizona Films, based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. He specializes in international co-productions of auteur feature films by emerging non-French filmmakers.
Dany de Seille is an experienced film industry PR manager. For more than 20 years, she has been responsible for press and public relations for La Semaine de la Critique (Cannes Critics’ Week). She also collaborates with Cinemed Montpellier, Arras Film Festival, Groupe Ouest, and Fondation Gan pour le Cinéma.
Presentations
“4 Stamps – 4 Lives” – Book presentation on Georgian alpinism.
Authors: Khatuna Khundadze & Ivane Japaridze.
And
Presentation of the MESMA (მესმა) Foundation.
30 July 2026, 3:00 PM
Jury
Siddiq Barmak
Siddiq Barmak is an Afghan film director and a graduate of the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow (1987).
His debut feature film, Osama (2003), received international acclaim and won numerous prestigious awards at major film festivals, including Cannes, Busan, and London. In 2004, the film was also awarded the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.
His second feature, Opium War (2008), received Best Film awards at the Rome Film Festival and Batumi International Film
His latest feature, The Postman (2026), marks his return to feature filmmaking.
Elif Dağdeviren
Elif Dağdeviren is a Turkish media executive, producer, journalist, and film industry professional.
Over the years, she has served as the director of the Antalya International Film Festival, editor-in-chief of the Turkish edition of Cosmopolitan, and co-founder of the film production company Hermes Films.
She has produced several internationally acclaimed and award-winning films, including Ice Cream, I Scream, which was Turkey’s official submission for the Academy Awards (Oscars).
Kim Hyung-Koo
Kim Hyung-Koo is one of the most respected figures in South Korea’s film industry. A professor of Film and Multimedia at Korea National University of Arts, he was educated as a cinematographer and photographer, studying at Seoul Chung Ang University, the Korean Academy of Fine Arts, and the American Film Institute.
He is the recipient of numerous national honors(blue dragon award , the grand bell award) and international awards.
Throughout his distinguished career, he has worked alongside some of Korea’s most renowned filmmakers, including Bong Joon-ho, Hong Sang Soo, Lee Chang-dong, and Im Kwon-taek.
Guillaume de Seille
Guillaume de Seille is a French producer and film distributor.
He worked for ten years in the Cinema Department of Canal+ before serving as Artistic Director at France 2, the French public broadcaster.
Under his leadership, the France-based production company Arizona Films has co-produced and distributed more than 60 art-house feature films. Many of these films have been screened at major international film festivals, released theatrically in France, and broadcast on European television channels.
Arizona Films primarily focuses on co-producing auteur films by emerging non-French directors. Among its notable collaborations are projects with Georgian filmmakers George Ovashvili and Nana Ekvtimishvili.
Mariam Kandelaki
Mariam Kandelaki is a Georgian animation director, producer, and cultural organizer, the founder of several key animation initiatives in the Black Sea region, including the Animation Project Development Workshop together with Annecy festival, the Georgian Animators Association SAQANIMA, and the ANIMA Tbilisi International Animation Conference, contributing significantly to the development of the regional animation industry and international co-production networks. She is also the organizer of the Nikozi International Animation Film Festival.
Mariam Kandelaki is a board member of CEE Animation and the EMILE European Animation Awards, and a member of the European Film Academy. In 2026 she was honored with the Giannalberto Bendazzi Award at the Paris International Animation Film Festival for her outstanding contribution to animation culture and industry development.
