Tbilisi International Student Film Festival in Georgia: dates, meaning and how to experience it

By Mariam Lomidze, GTour desk · Fact-checked against the sources listed · Last checked 25 October 2026 · Editorial policy

What it is

The Tbilisi International Student Film Festival is an annual showcase of short films made by students of cinema and theatre schools in Georgia and abroad. Its host, the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University, carries the name of Shota Rustaveli, the twelfth-century Georgian poet whose epic The Knight in the Panther’s Skin is regarded as the foundation of Georgian literary identity. There is no single “Georgian word” peculiar to this festival; in Georgian it is referred to descriptively as Tbilisis Saertashoriso Studenturi Kinopestivali — literally “Tbilisi International Student Cinema Festival” — a modern, largely borrowed vocabulary (pestivali from “festival,” studenturi from “student”) that reflects the event’s recent, academic origin rather than any ancient feast or folk custom.

The festival is celebrated primarily by the city’s film and theatre community: students, faculty, graduating directors, cinematographers, and the wider circle of Tbilisi residents who follow the capital’s growing calendar of film events. It is not a public holiday and has no religious or agrarian roots; it belongs instead to the newer layer of Georgian cultural life built around higher education in the arts, alongside better-known institutions such as the Tbilisi International Film Festival and Batumi‘s art-house showcase. Visitors who attend encounter contemporary Georgian and international student filmmaking rather than inherited ritual, making the event a useful counterpoint to the older feast days described elsewhere on this site.

Historical background

• 12th century — Shota Rustaveli composes The Knight in the Panther’s Skin, the national epic whose author later gives his name to Tbilisi’s main avenue and to the university that now hosts the festival.
• 1946 — according to the university’s own account, the Tbilisi State Theatrical Institute is founded, the forerunner of today’s Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University.
• mid-to-late 20th century — Georgian-trained filmmakers, including Sergei Parajanov, born in Tbilisi, and Tengiz Abuladze, build an international reputation for the city’s cinema culture.
• 2006 — the institute is reorganised and granted university status under its present name.
• early 2000s — the university’s film faculty traditionally begins organising a festival for student work, screening theses and coursework films to faculty and the public.
• 2010s — the event broadens to accept entries from film schools outside Georgia, taking the name Tbilisi International Student Film Festival.
• 2020 — like most festivals worldwide, the edition is reportedly adapted to pandemic-era restrictions, with reduced in-person attendance.
• 2026 — a recent edition runs in late October, continuing the established autumn timing in central Tbilisi.

The festival sits within a longer Georgian tradition of state-supported training in theatre and cinema that predates it by decades. Tbilisi’s conservatoires and drama schools nurtured directors, actors and cinematographers through the Soviet period, producing a generation whose films — often allegorical, visually distinctive and shaped by Georgian folklore and landscape — circulated well beyond the Caucasus. The student festival grew out of this pedagogical culture: a way for the university to test young filmmakers’ work in front of an audience before wider distribution or further study.

Its late-October placement is practical rather than symbolic. By then the academic year is underway, harvest-season travel to the regions has eased, and Tbilisi’s cultural calendar — which also includes the city holiday Tbilisoba — is in full swing. Over time the festival has become one marker, among several, of Tbilisi’s self-presentation as a growing centre for film production and education in the South Caucasus.

Meaning and traditions

The festival’s core activity is simple: public screenings of short films, usually in university auditoriums and occasionally in partner cinemas, followed by discussion with the student directors. Programmes typically mix documentary, fiction, animation and experimental formats. A student or mixed jury awards prizes at a closing ceremony, and informal talk among attendees afterward — in the corridors and courtyard of the university, or at nearby cafés on and around Rustaveli Avenue — is as much a part of the event as the screenings themselves.

Georgian terms encountered around the festival are mostly technical loanwords familiar across European film culture: p’rograma (programme), zhiuri (jury), p’remiera (premiere). There is no special festival food or song, unlike Georgia’s religious and agricultural feasts; hospitality, where it appears, takes the modest form of a reception after the awards rather than a set menu. Regionally, Tbilisi’s event can be compared with the Batumi International Art-House Film Festival on the Black Sea coast, which draws a broader public audience, or Tbilisi’s own longer-established international film festival — both larger in scale but built on the same conviction that Georgian audiences will turn out for serious cinema.

When it happens

The festival does not follow a fixed date formula; organisers set the week each year according to the university’s academic calendar and venue availability, typically landing in the second half of October over roughly five to six days. The most recent edition fell in late October 2026. The next edition is provisionally scheduled for 19–24 October 2027, pending confirmation closer to the date by the university’s film faculty. It is not a public holiday: government offices, shops, banks and transport in Tbilisi operate normally throughout, and the only disruption is to the university’s own teaching schedule and screening rooms.

Where to experience it

Screenings are centred on the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University campus in central Tbilisi, a short walk from Rustaveli Avenue, with some sessions in past years hosted at partner venues such as the historic Amirani Cinema nearby. Programmes usually run from late afternoon into the evening, with the closing awards event drawing the largest crowd. Visitors are welcome at public screenings; dress is casual, and the atmosphere is informal compared with a church feast or a formal theatre premiere — no particular etiquette is required beyond ordinary courtesy toward students presenting their first finished work. Film sessions are generally in Georgian or English with subtitles, though this varies by entry and year.

Did you know

• Shota Rustaveli, the medieval poet whose name the university bears, lived in the twelfth century, and his epic remains central to Georgian school curricula and national identity.
• Director Sergei Parajanov, celebrated for visually distinctive Soviet-era cinema, was born in Tbilisi in 1924.
• Tbilisi hosts several film festivals through the year, including a longer-running international film festival and the Batumi International Art-House Film Festival on the coast.
• The student festival’s October timing overlaps with Tbilisoba, the city’s autumn civic holiday, widening the choice of events for visitors in the same week.
• Student film festivals of this kind typically screen short-format thesis and coursework projects rather than feature-length releases, making programmes compact and fast-paced.

Practical tips for visitors

Screenings are generally open to the public and inexpensive or free, but the full programme and ticketing details are published by the university closer to each edition, so checking shortly before travel is advisable. Late October in Tbilisi is mild by day and cool in the evening, with occasional rain, so a light jacket is sufficient. Because the festival coincides with Tbilisoba and the tail end of the wine-harvest season, hotel rooms in central Tbilisi can book up, and advance reservation is recommended. GTour arranges a private driver or guide for the day for visitors who want to combine festival screenings with a tour of central Tbilisi.

Combine it with

A festival visit pairs naturally with time in Tbilisi itself, where Rustaveli Avenue’s theatres, galleries and Old Town sit within walking distance of the university. Travellers extending their trip in the same week can add a day in Kakheti for the close of the wine harvest, or explore the historic churches and monasteries of Mtskheta-Mtianeti just north of the capital.

Questions travellers ask

Is the Tbilisi International Student Film Festival open to the public?

Yes, screenings are generally open to anyone interested, not only to students and faculty, though specific sessions and ticketing details are confirmed by the university closer to each edition.

Do I need to speak Georgian to follow the films?

Many entries include English subtitles, particularly international submissions, but language availability varies by film, so checking the programme in advance is useful if this matters to you.

Is this a public holiday in Georgia?

No. It is a university-organised cultural event, and shops, offices and transport across Tbilisi operate on their normal schedules throughout the festival.

How long does the festival run?

Past editions have typically lasted around five to six days in the second half of October, though exact length and dates vary year to year and are confirmed by organisers.

Where exactly does it take place?

The main venue is the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University in central Tbilisi, with some screenings in past years held at partner cinemas nearby.

Does the festival overlap with other Tbilisi events in October?

It often coincides with Tbilisoba, the city’s autumn civic holiday, making late October a particularly active month for cultural visitors to the capital.

Can I combine a festival visit with a regional trip?

Yes. Tbilisi’s central location makes short trips to Kakheti’s wine region or the monasteries of Mtskheta-Mtianeti easy to add before or after festival days.

Are tickets needed in advance?

Student festival screenings are typically low-cost or free and informally attended, but confirming current arrangements with the university ahead of travel is recommended.

Sources

• Georgian National Tourism Administration
• Ministry of Culture of Georgia
• Batumi International Art-House Film Festival
• Tbilisi City Hall
• Agenda.ge cultural news