The Bridge

The Department for the Study of Conflict Zones in the South Caucasus assembles a focus group to examine the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. Levan, the head of the department, and his deputy Maria invite two young people to participate — Nino, a Georgian, and Arslan, an Abkhaz.

At first, the study is supposed to follow a routine procedure: the two young participants are asked to talk about the war, the past, family memory, and their attitudes toward one another. But during the conversation, something unexpected becomes clear — there is no conflict between Nino and Arslan. They do not see each other as enemies, and for them, the war is not a personal experience but a painful memory inherited from the previous generation.

For Levan, this discovery becomes a problem. If there are no longer signs of confrontation among the younger generation, the very need for his department’s existence may be called into question. Levan tries to find something in their answers that he can hold on to — to stir up resentment and anger, provoke mutual distrust, and uncover anything that might prove the conflict is still alive and his work remains necessary. But his attempts fail.

Gradually, the conversation moves beyond the boundaries of an official study and turns toward personal stories. It becomes clear that the traces of war remain in the memories of both families. Yet this pain does not turn the young people against each other. On the contrary, they begin to recognize echoes of their own suffering in each other’s stories.

In the process, Levan is also forced to confront his own past. He realizes that all this time he has been studying the conflict, documenting its boundaries and consequences, while overlooking something essential: the war destroyed not only land, homes, and human lives — it also severed the connection between generations.