Directed by Nat Rowbotham. Produced as part of the Caucasus Cinema program in Tamarisi, Georgia.
As a cinematographer on these filmmaking programs, I get very busy during the week, juggling multiple projects and schedules. Towards the end of the week however, my usefulness is reduced as directors set to work editing their films. Throughout my time in Tamarisi I had noticed these interesting fence panels everywhere. They reminded me of sand tracks used for off-road vehicles, and due to the abundance, I was curious about the origin. Through a bit of Wikipedia trawling and some guess work I traced them back to Marston Mats used to build temporary airfields in WW2, and then in global conflicts since. With a day until the end of week screening, I set about documenting all of these mats spread across the village, and hoped to contrast this with fantastic fighter jet footage supplied by Peter Vadocz, captured in some of the many Su-25 and Mi-24 flyovers we experienced during our week in Tamarisi. This small town continues to be influenced by its proximity to the Tbilisi Marneuli Airbase, and so becomes a good reflection for the larger country, both in its historical significance to the Soviet Union and current tensions in the region.
Here’s a poster I made.
Nat Rowbotham 