Georgian Community

My name is Stephen Riehl and I’m an independent filmmaker located in the Pacific Northwest. I have recently begun development on a documentary titled "The Stylite: a matter of faith" about a Georgian Orthodox monk who is hoping to live on the Katskhi Pillar near the mining town of Chiatura as a Stylite. The seed of this idea grew from Georgian photojournalist Temo Bardzimashvili’s photo essay titled, “Georgian Monk Builds Stairway to Heaven” that was published on EurasiaNet online magazine in August. I hope to juxtapose this remarkable act with the recent resurgence of religion in Georgia. Currently, we are trying to spread the word about this film while we begin planning a research trip to Georgia. I’m contacting your organization because this film might be of some cultural interest to the Georgian community in the United States.