CRRC, ARISC, and MWNO are pleased to announce the 4th session of the Fall 2026 Tbilisi Works-in-Progress series!
Rustaveli in Jerusalem: The Archaeology of Filmmaking Across Cold War Borders
Benjamin Arenstein, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Date: 4 November 2026, 18:30 Tbilisi time / 9:30am US EST
This week’s session will be held virtually via this Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/mJ97lKNcR36lxGpRiLJsSw Registration is required.
This talk examines the 1966 film In the Footsteps of Rustaveli (რუსთაველის ნაკვალევზე) as pioneering a new model of Cold War literary exchange through the Soviet documentary medium. Filmed between Georgia and Jerusalem, the documentary recreates the pilgrimage that Georgia’s national poet, Shota Rustaveli, purportedly undertook prior to his death in the 13th century. Reading this film alongside Irakli Abashidze’s poem by the same name, I show that documentary film was integral to reimagining the world literary canon as it took shape during the Cold War.
Benjamin Arenstein is an instructor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on Jewish underground poetry during the late-Soviet period.
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Works-in-Progress is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the CRRC office at Chavchavadze Ave. 5 and online. It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) Georgia, the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC), and Max Weber Network Eastern Europe (MWNO).
In observation of the spirit of the Chatham House Rule, the talks will not be recorded, and we courteously request that the other participants refrain from recording and/or distributing recordings as well or citing anything expressed therein in the press without explicit permission. The opinions expressed in WiP talks are those of the speakers alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC, ARISC, or of MWNO.