The Pipeline Next Door

1999: To put a stop to the Russian monopoly in the Petroleum Extraction, a decision was taken to build the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Among other places, it threatens to run through a small village in the untouched and quiet Borjomi valley in Georgia, renowned for its abundance of mineral springs.
For the villagers, this “fire-spitting dragon” quickly becomes a symbol of evil that will take away their land and disrupt their traditional habits. Since the news spread through the village, everything has been in an uproar: quarrels break out, followed by dirty tricks and double crossing. Will the pipeline turn out to be an invasive creature that destroys the beauty of the land, or a providential savior that leads the region to prosperity?
Nino Kirtadzé has fashioned a modern tale of the clash of two civilizations, a tragicomic showdown between a small, disorganized village and the encroaching forces of globalization. And with her perceptive yet playful attitude, the filmmaker succeeds in making the natural seem supernatural.