April

Dea Kulumbegashvili's 2024 Georgian film follows an obstetrician working in eastern Georgia. Nina is under investigation after the death of a newborn at the hospital while continuing to perform, in the villages, the abortions nobody else will. The film does not construct this as a courtroom story; it advances through her days, the hours spent on roads and the silence of a community that will not speak to her. The camera holds long, motionless shots and some scenes are filmed directly and with medical detail. A strange, non-human figure placed between sections pulls the account away from realism and leaves the film's meaning open. It won the special jury prize at Venice. Who it's for: viewers who like slow and formally demanding cinema. Who it's not for: anyone who would rather not approach childbirth, abortion and medical violence; the film does not avoid showing them.