George Sikharulidze’s Personal Debut: ‘Panopticon’George Sikharulidze’s Personal Debut: ‘Panopticon’ George Sikharulidze’s directorial debut, ‘Panopticon,’ holds deep personal significance for the filmmaker, he reveals. The film, premiering at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, explores the formative years of a young man grappling with the absence of parental guidance. Growing up in Tbilisi’s rough neighborhood in the 1990s, Sikharulidze’s lived experiences greatly influenced his cinematic vision. Witnessing François Truffaut’s 1959 masterpiece “The 400 Blows” inspired him to draw from his own past. “I earned my degree in media and communications from New York University,” Sikharulidze tells Variety. “While unsure about filmmaking at the time, films like Truffaut’s prompted me to pursue directing at Columbia Film School.”
George Sikharulidze’s feature debut ‘Panopticon’ is, according to the director, a very personal film.
The film, which will be shown as a world premiere during the main competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, is a coming-of-age story about a young man struggling to find himself without any meaningful parental authority.
Sikharulidze, who grew up in the 1990s in a rough neighborhood of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, where he lived with his grandmother, mother and sister, says he was inspired to draw on his own experiences in his first film by watching François Truffaut’s groundbreaking watch movie 1959. movie “The 400 strokes.”
“I graduated from New York University’s Media and Communications program,” the New York-based director tells Variety. “At the time I wasn’t sure I wanted to make films, but I saw a few films, including Truffaut, that led me to go to Columbia Film School to study directing.
