Biyograficim
Corn Island

Corn Island

Movie · 2014 · 5 people

Giorgi Ovashvili directed the 2014 Georgian drama Mısır Adası, released internationally as Corn Island (Georgian Simindis k'undzuli). A grandfather and his granddaughter spend one farming season trying to raise corn on a small silt island in the Enguri River. The film won the Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and was Georgia's pick for the 87th Academy Awards in the foreign-language category, reaching the nine-film shortlist.

The island sits on the boundary between Georgia and Abkhazia, and the pair repeat the rhythm of every year: turning the soil, sowing corn and preparing for the harvest. They see only soldiers passing along the bank. That calm life is upset when a wounded soldier hides in their cornfield; amid military conflict and ethnic tension, they face the risk of having to pick a side. İlyas Salman carries the lead, with Tamer Levent in a short role; Mariam Buturishvili and Irakli Samushia also star.

Ovashvili wrote the script with Nugzar Shataidze and Roelof-Jan Minneboo. Spoken in Georgian, Abkhaz and Russian, it runs about 100 minutes. It opened in Turkey on January 2, 2015, and in Germany, as Die Maisinsel, on May 28, 2015. One critic said it grows on you as you think about it.

DirectorGiorgi Ovashvili

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İlyas Salman İlyas Salman Actor · 77 years old Old man Tamer Levent Tamer Levent Actor · 76 years old Officer Mariam Buturishvili Irakli Samushia Temur Goginava

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Corn Island entrusts its story not to dialogue but to the season itself. Turning the soil, sowing corn, preparing for the harvest: the backbone of the narrative is this yearly rhythm. A structure like that asks for patience and repays it slowly, which is why one critic's description of it as a film that grows on you as you think about it fits. That a film built on a single location, a handful of characters and few words won the Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary and made the nine-film Oscar shortlist shows its simplicity is a deliberate choice that found its audience. For anyone expecting brisk storytelling, though, that same simplicity can be a barrier.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The island's position on the border between Georgia and Abkhazia is the film's strongest social layer. For a grandfather and granddaughter tending their soil, politics may seem far away, yet the soldiers passing along the bank are a reminder of how fragile that distance is. Once a wounded soldier hides in the field, the question becomes whether staying neutral is itself a choice. The film's value lies in showing how ethnic tension is felt not on a front line but in the middle of an ordinary struggle to make a living. Hearing Georgian, Abkhaz and Russian side by side also reflects how intertwined the region is.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Military conflict, a wounded soldier, the pressure to pick a side: on paper there is plenty of thriller material. But the film doesn't use it the way a thriller would. The pace follows the season, words are few and events unfold slowly. For anyone used to genre speed it is a real test of patience; the tension here lives not in explosions but in quiet waiting.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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