Original subtitles

In Georgia

This scene we witnessed in upper Svaneti

It here stands as the opening

As a preamble

We start at the ancient capital:

Then we visit the shepherds and peasants of Kakheti

After that to Ajara at the Black Sea

And finally high up into the Caucasus of Svaneti

To Mestia

It cannot be a comprehensive film about Georgia

Merely a rural segment, and a subjective one at that

We did not go in search of particular national accomplishments

Nor in search of conflicts

We were guests, for a short time.

What seemed most precious to us

In all the villages

Were the moments of first encounter

The foreign melody of the language

Not wanting to understand everything

In Georgia

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

Its name means 'life-giving pillar'

And further up there

Jvari Monastery

Mzcheta, the capital of ancient Kartli,

Here seen from the Jvari Monastery of the Cross

The cathedral was built in the early 11th century

Directly on top of the original wooden 4th-century church

The history of Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

Is closely connected with Georgia's historical fortunes

To this day it is considered a symbol of the nation's vitality

This is a fragment of a relief

From the fifth century

Jvari Monastery

Dating from the early sixth century

We only briefly visited

The present-day capital Tbilisi

By way of an enchanting detour

We went to worship the great primitivist painter, Niko Pirosmani

We told them that

For twenty years I'd wanted to make a film about Pirosmani

And about the descendants of the protagonists of his paintings

Could you please tell us your name

She says, since you admire Pirosmani so much

When you come back in December, one gobelin will be ready

it's that one on the left hand side

She's asking you

If you have a special request

She can create a realistic likeness

Of Pirosmani for you

- Do you know that picture? - I know all of his works

She asked why I was so shy

They would be delighted to make a gobelin of one of Pirosmani's works for me

So that we might have an especial memento of Georgia

Apart from the film

And they would all embroider their name into it

She said that

They would make the famous gobelin

Ah look at that

The gobelin they're going to make will be much better

- A better one for me - Yes

The Pirosmani room of the Georgian National Museum

The originals

They had only just returned from a nmajor exhibition in Moscow

And not back in their usual spot

Nowadays Pirosmani is considered the greatest Georgian painter

By his compatriots

Like no one else he painted the joys and sufferings of his country

He died the same way he had lived

Poor and lonely

On May 5, 1918 in Tbilisi

Nobody knows the location of his grave

Kakheti

Pirosmani's home

Azerbaijani shepherds near Telavi

We would like to know where you're from and where you're headed

Of course you can ask us that

We are from the mountains

From the mountain Koch'timta (?)

And where are you from?

Ah you're German

Germaneli means Germans

We had stopped in this roadside village in Kakheti

Because we had seen the farmer with his donkey and the grape press

He explains how the grape press is operated

The name is Tamal

They gave us grapes and red wine

A valley near Telavi

The foothills of the Caucasus

In the far distance

The white ship of Alaverdi cathedral

A medieval cupola structure

The individuality of early Georgian sacred architecture

- hundreds of buildings attest to its beauty -

Was not recognised in Western Europe until very late

The same is true

For early Christian Georgian painting

And many more things

These people, too, had given us fruit

Then they sang this song for us

A village just out of Alaverdi

At the foothills of the mountains

A shepherd had given us an abundance of grapes

Here at a small fountain

We washed our hands, sticky with grape sugar

We noticed a pomegranate tree in that garden

And asked would we be allowed to take footage of it

Here is the farmer, Micha, with his wife

And his neighbour

His friend, Nodar

Watch what became of this encounter

That's Tommy

Jürgen

Eberhard

And our friend Aliko

He's toasting

Those people

You left back at home, who're waiting for you

In memory of those who're no longer among us

Many fell in the war

Many fell so that

We today might sit here amicably

To all those who created this day

To the grandchildren, the really little ones

For whom we are truly here, he says

He sang

Shall we drink, fellas, while we're still here?

There'll be much time for grieving

In the dark grave

Let's allow the little ones to...

Micha's tune

Show yourself, pearl

Rest there in the pond, you're not as beautiful, girl

As you believe

In Eleri I ate cheese

In Alebba sundried grapes

Girl, I implore you, allow me to court you

In Batumi

By the Black Sea

We're in Adjara2

Batumi cemetary

We drove to the tea plantations near Kobuleti

This is the fertile region of Colchis

Connected since the earliest times with the legend of the Golden Fleece

And of the argonauts

Already Herodotus

Xenophon

And Aristotle make mention of Colchis in their works

It had been raining for days

Work on the tea plantation was not possible

Aliko asked them: "Are you up here often?"

"Yes, whenever we've spare time"

Where are the girls?

Are their parents working in tea production?

Yes

Will you work in the tea production, too?

Yes

Farewell to the Black Sea

Up into the mountains of Svaneti

Svaneti

"A country of calm and quiet"

Thus named in 253 BC

By the Georgian King Sarumak

Mestia

The small capital of this mountaineous region

In the courtyard of the museum in Mestia

Rusiko shows us some icons

Most of Svaneti origin

Created by unknown masters in the early middle ages

Rusiko tell us

This is an icon from the 11th century

A tablet icon reliquary

The frame is ornamented using a copper engraving technique

A particular tradition of Georgia

No more than a stone's throw away from the museum

The market square of Mestia

Tetnuldi mountain

Mount Ushba

For centuries upper Svaneti

Was isolated from surrounding regions

Until recent times

Ancient kinship rules were maintained

It was only in 1937

When along the former Inguri path the narrow road was built

That the Svanetis encountered the wheel

But even today we saw on the slopes and in the villages

The ancient bull-driven wooden sleighs

Which even in the summer here are more practicable than wheel carriages

From the peak of Mount Ushguli

We pan across to Shkhara

Its height is more than 5,000 metres

The church in Ushguli

Almost 1,000 years old

"Svane" means "green"

Svaneti

Means "green country"

Ushguli

War and blood feuds severely burdened

The proud and freedom-loving mountain people

Its population little more than 20,000

1917-1925 alone

Until the installation of Soviet power in Upper Svaneti

600 men were killed as a result of blood feuds

The centuries-old watch towers

Remain like warning memorials

Aliko had asked her name

- Is it a nuisance if we take footage? - Not at all

- When are you milking the cows?

- Around 8am

- We might be back then

- You're welcome

The next morning

We were in Ushguli for two days

The youngest son of our host

Is riding to the fields on Shkhara

We asked her about the weather

"It will be fine until after noon"

"There'll be more rain later"

It rained every evening this week

"Please, do take some footage"

- Are they Germans from the GDR? - Yes

As you're standing there, I think you're my brothers

Everyone here in the village thinks that

You have brothers, after all

We're all brothers in that sense,

She says

Why should there be war?

It is good that you're taking footage of us

Perhaps the people in Germany

Will hear me, or even in the entire world

That, too, would bring a little peace

Later on, Aliko translated more precisely

You film people can assist greatly

A word spoken flies across 12 mountains, it is heard everywhere

What we are content with what we have

And the others, too

I'm speaking on behalf of everyone here

The Svanetis speak

Their own language, Georgian, and some Russian

Everyone makes their own bread

The boy's name is Hadji

Where are you riding?

"Into the mountains"

We wish you a good journey

After classes, in front of the school

Aliko asks them to sing us a song

"Chapuzka" means "stop, stop!"

"They just won't stop", the girl says

"Yes, we all work here in the village"

During the winter we mostly feed the animals

Yes, he rides every day

He rides up to Shkhara mountain, he says

He helps with cutting the grass

He's 13 years old

He has three brothers

We wish him the best

His name is Radjan

He's from here, I suppose?

Yes, all his forbears are from here

They lived in these houses

He's 61 years old

He's a worker

And our host's forbears, are they from here, too?

Yes, just a little further down the mountain

We are very glad that

We took footage in this village

And that we could stay one night in this village

"Come again"

"Come again, we would be delighted"

...and this wonderful milk and... [inaudible]

It was not much

We love guests, do come again

With pleasure

Subtitles for KG (2014) by stefflbw