WhatWeShared

Film Synopsis

Seven inhabitants of a de facto state on the Black Sea unfurl a web of stories about loss and displacement through the re-imaginings of dreams and memories of the 1992-93 war between Georgia and the separatist region of Abkhazia. These re-imaginings are interwoven with auto-fictional narration and archival materials that have been processed through an AI technology. The Black Sea permeating the film’s world acts as a metaphor of both an idyllic holiday destination of utopian happiness; as well as a perilous force, a place of conspiracy and death. What We Shared employs emotive soundscape and imagery to produce a sensory reflection on artistic practice as a powerful binding force and an act of resistance to dominant power structures.

Filmmaker's statement

In What We Shared we creatively interpreted dreams and memories that may not otherwise be perceived or even conceived. I wanted to show that the 1992-93 war in Abkhazia is not a history but a contemporary reality as the trauma caused by it passes onto younger generations. What We Shared engages with memory, intergenerational trauma, war and displacement and in doing so, it demonstrates that manoeuvring between all these subjects requires subtlety and at times, fiction.

Film production Stills

Film Poster

Cast & Crew Portraits

Film trailer

Sergey Arutiunov and Kamila Kuc at the production's final dinner.
It's a wrap! Standing, from the left: Assistant Director James Norton, performers: Vladimir Nikonov and Oleg Koryavov. Sitting, from the left: Production Manager Vika Kapikyan, Director Kamila Kuc, Performers: Aslan Enik, Sergey Arutiunov and Manana Bigvava.
Manana Bigvava after a long day of filming in the Black Sea.
Set photographer Arutan Chitanava with Production Manager Vika Kapikyan and Production Assistant Naya Obidova.
Aslan Enik and Associate Producer Asida Butba discussing the script.
What We Shared, the set.
Associate Producer Asida Butba and Kamila on the Sinop beach, Sukhum/i.
Assistant Director James Norton and Kamila Kuc, with Sonia White.
Sonia White and Manana Bigava.
Assistant Director James Norton.
Preparing for a scene with Oleg Koryavov.
Vladimir Nikonov as the Former Employee of the Monkey Academy, after delivering a monologue about the Monkey Academy.
Tamriko Basaria as Tamar Ioseliani, describing one of her recurring dreams.
Aslan Enik and Kamila Kuc.
Sergey Arutiunov as Aleksander Voznyuk minutes before recalling a story about Graham Greene visiting Abkhazia.
Oleg Koryavov in preparation for a scene concerning his dream about the war.
Manana Bigvava recalling her familial past.
Manana Bigvava preparing for one of the scenes.
Manana Bigvava, Oleg Koryavov and Aslan Enik in one of the scenes processed with the AI Deep Dream Generator, adapted by neural network engineer, David Drakard.
Aslan Enik.
Aslan Enik and Oleg Koryavov.
Aslan Enik in one of the pivotal, recurring scenes in the film.
Archival footage processed with the AI Deep Dream Generator, adapted by neural network engineer David Drakard. Original source: Prelinger Archives.
AI-processed still image of the AMRA Pier in Sukhum/i. Original 35mm image by Kamila Kuc.
AI-processed still of Sukhum/i in the 1950s. Original 35mm image courtesy of Nadia Venediktova.