Former wrestling champion Kakhi (Levan Tediashvili, himself a former Olympic wrestler) always has his family on his conscience, and in Brighton 4th, this leads him on a cross-continental journey. After making arrangements to cover for his brother’s gambling debts, Kakhi departs his humble home in the Republic of Georgia to pay a visit to his son Soso (Giorgi Tabidze) in outer Brooklyn. As Kakhi settles into Soso’s Brighton Beach boarding house—which constitutes a popup community of fellow Georgian immigrants—he learns that Soso has also accrued a $14,000 debt to the local mob boss (Yuriy Zur), a roadblock to Soso’s future in medicine.
Tribeca shorts alum Levan Koguashvili—whose feature Street Days was selected as the Georgian entry for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards®—returns to the festival with this sensitively rendered story of survival, with equal doses of levity and seriousness. Family and community can weave a crucial safety net in a world that looks the other way—which, Kakhi finds, is all the more reason to fight for his son’s second chance. —Frederic Boyer
Levan Koguashvili graduated from the Tisch School of Art's Graduate Film Program in 2006. His debut film, Street Days, premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam, and his next film, Blind Dates, premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. Brighton 4th is his third feature film.
