Smiling Georgia

What are the costs of the half-truths that politicians tell? In 2012, the Georgian president wanted to make the nation smile. In the race for reelection, the incumbent's party was promising subsidized dental care to the country’s least well off. Across the land, state medical practitioners began removing rotten teeth with the promise of replacements in the months that followed — then the president lost. Through interviews with those worst affected by that campaign, Smiling Georgia tells a story about the whims of political power and the defiance of those who usually hold the least of it — a film short on teeth, yes, but far from toothless.

Producers: Nino Chichua, Anna Khazaradze

DOP: Lomero Akhvlediani

Co-producers: Eva Blondiau, Elmar Imanov, Sophio Bendiashvili, Bacho Meburishvili

Editors: Nodar Nozadze, Joseph “Soso” Bliadze, Luka Beradze

Sound Design: Jascha Viehl

Music: Alexandre Kordzaia