BRÛLE LE SANG

“When I came to France, I did not speak the language. This made the first years of integration difficult. I think the incapacity of communication drew me to the violence. This was my only possibility of expression. And cinema acted as my only way to escape my reality. I literally learned the French language by watching TV all day long and by going to the cinema. The only benefit with the incapacity to communicate is that you become very good in observation of your environment and people around you. Whether for the two brothers or the mother, the movie is infused with this incapacity to express emotions and talk to each other.” (Akaki Popkhadze)

Akaki Popkhadze was born in Georgia in 1991 and grew up in Russia until he was 13 years old. His family then moved to Nice. Little by little, through encounters and by devouring Hercule Poirot episodes on TV, he learned the French language. His family had a difficult start and very soon he had to earn a living. He worked as a security agent in the luxury villas of Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat or as a waiter in nightclubs in Monaco and Saint-Tropez. When he entered the Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle (ESRA) in Nice, he finally got back to his childhood dream: making films. In 2017, he wrote and directed Le soleil des nuits blanches. Hailed by many professionals, this short film was screened at the PÖFF Shorts (Tallinn Black Nights film festival) as well as other festivals. In 2018, he wrote and directed Je vois, a medium-length film in a single shot-sequence of 36 minutes that received numerous distinctions, including from the CNC (Quality Award) and the Best Director Award at the Copenhagen Film Festival. His next short film Ici en silence tout hurle was awarded at Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival 2024.