Begurebis gadafrena Perelet vorobiev. 1980. USSR. Written and directed by Teimur Babluani. In Georgian; English subtitles. 60 min.
With Elguja Burduli, Teimur Bichiashvili, Rezo Esadze. The succinctly scripted allegory Flight of the Sparrows begins aboard a crowded third-class passenger train traveling through Soviet Georgia at night. An eccentric cast of characters passes the time chatting, occasionally arguing with each other. Tensions build when a burly man in a leather jacket—with a pet sparrow tucked inside his chest pocket—and another man, who is well dressed and claims to have travelled the world, engage in a fistfight. The film is exquisitely shot in black-and-white Cinemascope—accentuating the close quarters of the train cabin—before the action shifts to a totally different setting.