This film is part of Rentals

Taming the Garden 15 rating

A politically powerful man indulges in a destructive hobby – to have century-old trees uprooted in communities along the Georgian coast and transplanted to his private garden.

Documentary 2021 91 mins

Director: Salomé Jashi

Overview

An anonymous, politically powerful man has developed an unusual hobby. He buys century-old trees, some as tall as 15-storybuildings, from communities along the Georgian coast and has them excavated for his private garden. To transplant trees of such proportions, the landscape surrounding them is ripped apart and the people living nearby are forced to adapt to the disruption. As the film charts this process, it reflects on the theme of forced migration, and the needs and values of today’s Georgian society where "uprooting" is more than a metaphor.