Watch Old Georgian Hymns (1970) Official Trailer

Working with the Georgian polyphonic ensemble Rustavi and composer Anzor Erkomaishvili to resurrect the countryside’s derelict monasteries, Chkhaidze films eroded structures and faded biblical paintings caressed by sunlight, evoking the ambivalence of a besieged culture despite Georgia’s extant link to antiquity. Building on themes from his earlier work, Kolkhida—where Chkhaidze assigns the famed national myth of Jason’s quest to find the Golden Fleece in Colchis a negligible value in proportion to the land’s permanence—Chkhaidze here examines and historicizes Georgia’s identity as one of the earliest adopters of Christianity.