“A State in a State” by Tekla Aslanishvili
2022 · color · GE · RU/EN · 47’ · In competition
A State in a State is an experimental documentary film that follows the construction, disruption, and fragmentation of railroads in the South Caucasus and Caspian regions. It examines railways as the technical materialization of the fragile political borders that have re-emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Revolving around the scenes of delay and waiting that constitute cargo mobility, the film reads the optimistic narratives about the New Silk Road against the grain. It observes how the iron foundation of connectivity can be used as a weapon of exclusion and geopolitical sabotage. Dotting the same lines, other forms of sabotage are deployed by workers to disrupt the political violence. Looking at historic and current practices of resistance, A State in a State explores the potential of railroads for building a different infrastructural consciousness and the lasting, transnational kinship among the people who live and work around them.
THE DIRECTOR | TEKLA ASLANISHVILI
Tekla Aslanishvili is an artist, filmmaker, and essayist based between Berlin and Tbilisi. In her practice, she observes the shifting relations between governments, people, and their territories through the lens of large-scale infrastructure projects. Tekla completed her studies at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 2009 and holds a Master of Arts from the Berlin University of the Arts in Experimental Film and New Media department. Her work has been screened and exhibited internationally at Berlinische Galerie; Videoart at Midnight, Berlin; SculptureCenter, New York; Taipei Biennial 2023; Hong-gah Museum Taipei; MCAD – Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila; Wiels, Brussels; Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; New Visions – The Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media, Oslo; Transmediale 2023; Loop Festival / Antoni Tà pies museum Barcelona; NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; Neue Berliner Kunstverein; 14th Baltic Triennial; Tbilisi Architecture Biennial; Videonale 18; Short Film Festival Oberhausen; Kunsthalle Münster; EMAF – European Media Art Festival. She is a 2019 Digital Earth fellow, a nominee for the Ars-Viva Art Prize 2021, and a recipient of the Han Nefkens Foundation – Fundació Antoni Tà pies Video Art Production Award 2020. Currently, Tekla is a postgraduate fellow at the Berlin Centre for Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences (BAS) at the Berlin University of the Arts.
