This project aims to use cinema as a pedagogical and artistic tool to communicate the contemporary hardships of those affected by the Abkhazian-Georgian contested border, today reactivated by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although largely overlooked by Western European media, this divide shapes the daily reality for thousands on both sides. Thirty years after the 1994 ceasefire agreement between Abkhazia and Georgia, what was once a ceasefire line has become a hardened, almost hermetic separation. This contested border divides a space that used to be discontinued under the USSR and, before that, the Russian Empire. With this, the division affects communities with deep historical and social ties, leading to the painful and often involuntary separation of families and friends. Such dynamics of hardening and softening through the 1990s and 2000s gradually shaped the Abkhazian-Georian divide, as Abkhazia sought to solidify it into a permanent (de facto) border.

This short film incorporates these personal and political tensions through the medium of docu-fiction and follows four characters, two Abkhaz and two Georgians, across two generations: the 1980s and the present day. With their story, we aim to convey the evolution of the Abkhazian-Georgian contested border. While the older generation experienced a time when borders were fluid and relationships could thrive, the younger generation currently faces greater constraints, with fewer opportunities to connect. Yet, the film scenario highlights that despite the barriers, windows of communication and understanding still exist. Through a mix of archival footage, live-action, and participants’ filming, the film traces the evolution of these friendships over time in the context of the shifting political landscape of the Western South Caucasus. As such, the film can be a pedagogical tool that documents the complexities of an increasingly bordered world and strives to imagine social and political alternatives.