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Ana Urushadze: Film Sets Are Nothing Short of Magical Experience

Nine years after winning the Heart of Sarajevo with her debut film SCARY MOTHER Georgian director Ana Urushadze returns with an odyssey about a famous actor whose audition for a supporting role sparks an introspective journey. A film will be screened at Competition Programme – Narrative Feature Film.

Can life wait for us? What do other people mean in our lives? Is there life beyond film? These are just some of the many questions director Ana Urshadze poses in her film Supporting Role, a reflective meditation cantered on actor Niaz Ninua. Once a towering film star, he decides to return to the camera after 15 years away, only to find that the audition he is offered is for a supporting role. At first resigned, he is prompted by this new situation to re-examine his life.

Niaz is played in the film by Dato Bakhtadze, one of the few Georgian actors to have built a successful career outside his homeland, which adds an extra meta-cinematic layer of appeal to the film.

Why did it take nine years to make another film after your successful debut, Scary Mother, which won the Heart of Sarajevo in 2017?

I feel like I could either write a whole book to answer this question or be very brief and say that life happened and the project was delayed. But it wasn’t as if I spent nine years actively working on this film. The idea was in the back of my head for a long time in a very dormant state. Over the years, it gradually became more alive and eventually the actual writing process happened relatively quickly.

The story of a once-famous actor auditioning for a supporting role rests heavily on Dato Bakhtadze’s performance. As one of the few Georgian actors to have built a career abroad, he brings particular resonance to the role. What came first: your desire to work with Dato, or the story of a man who needed him in the lead?

Dato wasn’t the first actor I had in mind. In fact, before him there were three different actors I seriously considered, one after another. But for different reasons it simply didn’t work out. When things fell through with the third actor, we had only a month and a half left before shooting was due to begin. However, for some reason, I had a strong feeling that we would find the right actor, so I decided not to change the shooting dates. Shortly after making that decision, I had my first meeting with Dato and by the end of that very meeting I offered him the part and he accepted.

Could you envision this film without Dato?

I can envision the film without Dato, because I already did, while considering other actors before him. But looking back now, I wouldn’t choose anyone else.

In a film summer already claimed by Odysseus, perhaps it's wise to avoid invoking him, but your story clearly shares kinship with the Greek epic. How did you approach the challenge of portraying a man whose physical journey becomes an increasingly disorienting search for belonging, direction, and a way home? 

The main challenge was to depict the very subtle changes that each encounter brings to him. As the journey progresses, he gradually becomes more alive internally, so to speak. That inner transformation had to be reflected externally, but without relying on obvious physical expression. And since we didn’t shoot the film chronologically, as is almost always the case, we constantly had to keep track of where the protagonist was emotionally in every scene. Dato handled that challenge brilliantly.

This film is not simply about a man who has lost his way; it is also a love letter to cinema and to the people who make it. What was most important for you to capture in that?

I’m glad that layer is present and perceptible. It just wasn’t my primary focus while making the film. I guess it emerged quite naturally from the story itself.

Which stage of the filmmaking process do you find most rewarding: writing, shooting, editing, or giving interviews?

The actual shooting process, nothing comes close to it. I imagine almost every director would give the same answer.

You come from a filmmaking family: your father, Zaza Urushadze, was one of Georgia’s most acclaimed directors. How did growing up around film sets shape the way you see the world?

I don’t know how it shaped the way I see the world, but film sets were nothing short of a magical experience for me. From the set of his very first feature film, watching my father completely dedicated to his craft and so deeply in love with it made me want to do the same.

Speaking about your family, will we ever see you directing a feature or documentary about your grandfather, famous goalkeeper Ramaz Urushadze?

My grandfather had a very interesting life. He traveled the world, had countless stories to tell and was a fascinating, very complex person. We lived together for 22 years. When someone is that close to you and when you know them so well, I believe it becomes incredibly difficult to portray them. Even talking about them can feel strangely alienating.