Institute History
Description
As family and friends gather in a Tbilisi apartment to celebrate her 52nd birthday, Manana calmly packs a suitcase and, to her guests’ bewilderment, announces she’s leaving. A literature professor and wife of 30 years, she’s shared a three-bedroom flat with her husband, Soso; her parents; two grown children; and son-in-law. And she’s had enough. Moving to a new apartment, she starts afresh, and has never been happier. Attempting to avoid the family drama that follows her, she nonetheless forms a surprising new attachment to a man she meets in secret—Soso.
My Happy Family is simply a gem. Quietly funny, profoundly observant, and possessed of a compassionate spirit, it plunges into the chaos of three generations coexisting beneath one roof, vividly drawing out distinctive characters. Directing duo Nana & Simon gracefully avoid melodrama and find the sublime soul of the film in Manana. Enduring the petty oppressions of family and a patriarchal society for decades, she is born of a willful expression of personal freedom. A figure of serene self-assurance, she’s an unforgettable character.