Aleksandre Koberidze’s Georgian-German co-production is a stunning modern fairytale that explores the magic of chance encounters, the celebration of the extraordinary that we so often dismiss as the humdrum of day-to-day life… and the (non-Qatari) World Cup.
“What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” (not rated, 2 hours, 30 minutes, Mubi) Georgian cinema has undergone a revival in recent years, and this 2021 German-Georgian drama written and directed by Aleksandre Koberidze is a fine example of “New New Wave cinema.” Set in the riverside city of Kutaisi, where a pharmacist and a soccer player, who meet on a street corner and experience instant attraction, find their plans for a date undone when a spell magically transforms them, leaving them unable to recognize or contact each other. With Giorgi Ambroladze, Ani Karseladze. Subtitled.
In a year marked by a recovering box office and distributors experimenting with a wide variety of types of releases, what does an overlooked film constitute?