The Moon is a Father of Mine

29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (07.11-23.11.2025)

Twelve-year-old Toma is expelled from school after being relentlessly tormented by his classmates. His estranged father, Nemo, who disappeared when the boy was just two years old, invites him to their ancestral village. The locals do not embrace Nemo’s unwelcome return. But he doesn’t fear anyone and is determined to pass on the ancient tradition of deer hunting to his son. This fateful weekend Toma learns survival, independence, and the dark secrets of his father’s past. The emotionally charged, intense drama is set against the meticulous recreation of the pivotal year of 1991, when Sakartvelo reclaimed its independence. The air is filled with a thirst for revenge, treachery and merciless threats. Only the whispers of mythical fantasies suggest that this is not a historical film. The mountains are an ocean of angels. The men of the Moon live there. Nobody can kill the Moon. Director George Ovashvili drew inspiration from his childhood to shape the precisely sketched story throughout production. As in his acclaimed debut “The Other Bank”, he cast a boy whom he happened to see in a village. Giorgi Gigauri delivers a marvellous performance, captured in the stunning valleys, mountains and paths of Georgia.

Edvinas Pukšta