Das Birnenfeld

Reading by Nana Ekvtimishvili

Moderation: Rikarde Riedesel

Nana Ekvtimishvili is not only famous for her films but also for novels like "The Pear Field". It is her first novel that was translated into German.

Lela's plan is to murder the history teacher and the children are expected to cross the pear fields to freedom. In the school for mentally deficient children in Tbilisi, a relic from the Soviet era, the angry young girl has taken up the role of protector. The teachers do not get along with the "idiots" although the majority of the children do not lack mental health. But they are all left to their own devices and alone.

As strong as her hatred for the history teacher is, she has developed a sister-like relationship with the boy Irakli. Every week Lela accompanies him to a nearby high-rise flat so he can talk on the phone with his mother in Greece. Irakli, however, refuses to believe what Lela has long suspected: His mother is never coming back, not even to pick him up. Lela manages to get him to learn English because she wants Irakli to have a better future in America. And then, one day, a married couple from the southern United States arrives and his dream threatens to become reality in a most bizarre way.

Nana Ektvimishvili's novel is an attempt to give the rebellious girls and women in the Georgian society a face and a voice.

Location:
EJOT-Labor, Unterm Hain 1

Sunday, 14th of October 2018

Beginning:
7:30 pm

Admission:
5,- € / 2,- €

Nana Ektvimishvili

Nana Ektvimishvili, born 1978 in Tbilisi, studied at the Babelsberg Film Academy and made two award-winning films with Simon Groß: Die langen hellen Tage (2014) and Meine glückliche Familie (2017). She lives in Berlin and Tbilisi.