Can film festivals help the countries of the South Caucasus make art, not war? Some local cultural figures and advocacy groups contend that the language of cinematography can overcome ethnic feuds and geopolitical jousting, but, so far, realizing that goal has proven to be a daunting task.

“Stop,” an Azerbaijani film festival organized by the Caucasus Center for Peacemaking Initiatives (CCPI), kicks off in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on November 12. The organizers hope that “Stop” will provide a space for honest conversations between Armenians and the Azerbaijanis, long at loggerheads over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“The Festival is an island of secure environment for direct communication” amidst the propaganda “that poisons healthy civilized relations,” the CCPI wrote in an English-language statement.

While the organizers insist that art knows no boundaries, they are facing an angry nationalist backlash in Armenia. The festival's Facebook page is peppered with threat messages and nasty comments.

A similar initiative got a mixed review in neighboring Georgia. In a bid to revive memories of happier times in Georgian-Russian relations, last week’s Russian Film Festival showed a string of recent Russian movies as well as a retrospective of Soviet Russian films.

Prominent Russian movie director and Festival President Eldar Ryazanov also called for using the event as a place for frank talk, and asked Georgians and Russians “to look into each other’s eyes.”  

In the theater, some Georgians laughed at iconic lines from the Soviet-era films, but others rolled their eyes. “This is another act of self-deception with that romantic myth that ‘Art will save the world,’” prominent Georgian art critic and liberal activist Teo Khatiashvili wrote dryly in Liberali magazine.

Instead of taking the Russian guests on a tour of historic landmarks and restaurants near Tbilisi -- how Georgians entertained Russian visitors in Soviet and pre-war times -- Khatiashvili suggested taking them instead to IDP settlements. “I am sure those who live there will have lots of things to say to both Georgian and Russian filmmakers,” she said.