April
Nina works in the only small hospital of a provincial town as an obstetrician-gynecologist. Single and in abstinence from personal relationships, she is unconditionally devoted to her Hippocratic oath. When a newborn dies within seconds of being delivered under her supervision, she is accused of wrongdoings. Under investigation, every detail of Nina’s personal and professional life is being scrutinized. Despite the risks, Nina remains devoted to her duty as a doctor, committed to doing what nobody else will.
Film Credits
Original Language: Georgian
Production Countries: Georgia, France, Italy
Duration: 134 min.
Written & directed by: Dea Kulumbegashvili
Produced by: Luca Guadagnino, David Zerat, Ilan Amouyal, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Archil Gelovani, Alexandra Rossi, Gabriele Bebe Moratti
Cinematography: Arseni Khachaturan
Editing: Jacopo Ramella Pajrin
Production Design: Beka Tabukashvili
Costume Design: Nikoloz Guraspashvili, Tornike Kirtadze
Make-Up & Hair: Kristyan Mallett, Ludmila Iakobashvili, Sopo Machavariani
Original Score: Matthew Herbert
Sound: Lars Ginzel, Tina Laschke, Zezva Poshkhidze
Visual Effects: Florian Ast, Sebastian Nozon
Casting: Leli Mimimoshvili
Cast: Ia Sukhitashvili (Nina), Kakha Kintsurashvili (David), Merab Ninidze (Head Doctor)
About the director
Born in 1986, Dea Kulumbegashvili is Georgian writer/director based in Tbilisi. Her debut short film Invisible Spaces was nominated for a Palme d’Or du Court Métrage at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 and was also the first film from independent Georgia to be part of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Her second short film Léthé was premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight selection and played in dozens of other festivals around the world. For her debut feature, Beginning, Dea Kulumbegashvili was invited to the Cannes’ Cinéfondation Residency and the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab in Jerusalem. The film Beginning was invited to be part of the Official Selection at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival as well as the San Sebastian Film Festival's Official Selection where she won four awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay & Best Actress. At the Toronto International Film Festival she won the FIPRESCI Award, and the main slate of the New York Film Festival, among others. Beginning was selected to represent Georgia for the Oscars. Her latest film April had its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in 2024 where it won the Special Jury Prize.
With APRIL, my goal was to explore and analyse the dichotomy and convergence between existence and womanhood. This naturally led me to the themes of birth and death. The story began with a singular woman, a character imbued with an epic quality. She is someone who endures suffering and channels that pain into her life choices and ambitions.
Despite this, she remains grounded and distinct from the rest of the world. By “epic,” I refer not to a narrative style but to the vast scope of an individual’s life and existence.
The film delves into the tangible, earthy aspects of life as well as the enigmatic and inexplicable dimensions of being. Nina lives the austere life of a doctor, risking her own well-being to provide illegal abortions for those in need. She encounters women in their most intimate moments, whether they are becoming mothers in the throes of excruciating labour or undergoing painful and clandestine abortions, hidden from their families.
Nina is a character who loves universally yet no one in particular. She possesses boundless empathy but struggles to form personal connections. She desires and needs nothing for herself, driven solely by her mission. However, she ultimately finds herself unable to effect significant change. /Dea Kulumbegashvili