How the Room Felt

A group of lesbians get together regularly at a football club canteen in a Georgian city, to hang out, to party, to hug each other, and to discuss existential issues. It’s a cozy, safe space for these young women in a society that’s not known for embracing its LGBTQ+ community. Discrimination, exclusion, and violence are part of the daily reality for these sports enthusiasts and their girlfriends, whether on the streets or, in some cases, within the family. When they’re together, they find the love, warmth, and safety they need to fully be themselves.

Ketevan Kapanadze doesn’t engage in cheap sentiment in this, her debut film. Neither does she put any particular emphasis on the hostile outside world—although it’s never far away. Her shots focusing on individual women are interspersed with observational scenes of the group as a whole. The director’s camera skims the outer walls of this protective bubble, making palpable the extraordinary atmosphere between the women in this room—as the mood shifts from celebratory and elated, to intimate and lethargic, to lively with debate.