Georgian filmmaker Déa Kulumbegashvili talks to us about the making of her abortion drama April and the role of cinema in the face of repressive systems
Feature by Stefania Sarrubba
21 Apr 2025
Like the home abortions carried out by its protagonist Nina, the making of April was shrouded in secrecy for writer-director Déa Kulumbegashvili. Flying under the radar isn’t easy when you’re “constantly followed by police”, she tells us ahead of her film’s UK release.
After her debut Beginning made waves during the pandemic, the Georgian filmmaker returned to her hometown, Lagodekhi, for her sophomore feature, which follows an obstetrician-gynecologist moonlighting as an abortionist. Terminating an unplanned pregnancy is legal in Georgia, but restrictions and stigma, particularly in more rural areas like Lagodekhi, hinder safe access to the procedure – hence the need for Kulumbegashvili's secrecy. “They knew I was making a film about a female doctor. But we could not say what it was really about,” she explains.
Continued: https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/interviews/dea-kulumbegashvili-on-abortion-drama-april