Taming the Garden

A powerful and anonymous man has developed an unusual hobby. He buys century-old trees, some as tall as 15-story buildings, from communities along the Georgian coast, and has them excavated to collect them for his private garden. In order to transplant trees of such dimensions, the landscape surrounding them is ripped apart and the people living around them are forced to adapt to the disruption. The trees travel by sea, offering a scene of such powerful surrealism – a huge tree floating on the water – that witnesses almost experience it as a rip in the fabric of reality. Although undoubtedly beautiful, this almost poetic act of bottomless egotism leaves everyone in a state of discomfort. As the film follows this process, it portrays the needs and values of today’s Georgian society and reflects on the theme of forced migration, where “uprooting” is more than a metaphor.