Dariko only has one tooth left. The retiree had all her other teeth pulled in 2012. In the scope of parliamentary election campaigning, President Mikheil Saakashvili had promised to make a break with the disastrous post-Soviet approach to dentalcare and provide all Georgians in need with dentures. There was only one condition: people had to vote to keep his UNM party in power. A cynical neighbour of Dariko quipped that Saakashvili actually just wanted to hug no-longer-toothless old women on the campaign trail. In any case, this set off a stampede of elderly individuals from rural areas who couldn't wait to have their worn-out teeth removed to make way for new ones. Then Saakashvili's party lost the election. Nine years later, the village where Dariko lives – whose name translates to "No Name" – is still without pearly whites. With a calm touch and non-judgemental gaze, Luka Beradze's portrait depicts the pensioners as they go about their everyday lives, as they meet up, eat, watch television, celebrate – alternating between trust that someone will still come through for them and disenchantment with politics. For all its missing teeth, the film is no less biting, providing a voice for those who the country's political class has forgotten.
Source: Filmfestival goEast 2024
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