It is a strange place to grow up, especially for “Haiko,” a young boy living with his grandmother. His father died in the war, while his rarely-seen mother works in the big city to support her family. To her credit, she tries to call regularly, but for Haiko and his grandmother are mostly on their own, like most Abkhazian refugees.
The once-grand buildings of Tskaltubo have fallen into disrepair, but as we can see from archival footage, they were once grandly luxurious. Kvelidze cleverly emphasizes the point with superimposed “then-and-now” split-screens. These sequences also help differentiate the film from other socially conscious fly-on-the-wall documentaries.
The refugees have lived in Tskaltubo for years (officially, they are not squatters), but the beleaguered Georgian state is preparing to move them to permanent new homes. Of course, that sort of implies giving up any hope of returning to their Abkhazia homes.
