Artistic License Films

SYNOPSIS:
In an environment of pervasive corruption, assassination, and street rioting, the story of chaotic post-Soviet transition is told through culture clash, electricity disconnections and blackouts.

AES Corp., the massive American "global power company," has purchased the privatized electricity distribution company in Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. AES manager Piers Lewis must now train the formerly communist populace that, in this new world, customers pay for their electricity. The Georgians meanwhile, from pensioners to the Energy Minister, devise ever more clever ways to get it free.

Amidst hot tempers and high drama, Lewis balances his love for the Georgian people with the hardships his company creates for them, as they struggle to build a nation from the rubble of Soviet collapse.
AES Manager Piers Lewis explains why there are frequent blackouts in Tbilisi, former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

Director's Statement:
The former Soviet Republic of Georgia has received international attention recently because of its peaceful “Rose Revolution,” the ouster of President Eduard Shevardnadze, and the election to the presidency of opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili. My film Power Trip provides important context to the recent political unrest in the Republic of Georgia, by outlining its recent history of independence and graphically depicting the frustration of its people with their corrupt political system.

The idea for Power Trip came about in 1999 when I was visiting my University friend, Piers Lewis in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. He suggested that it would make an interesting film to follow the progress of AES in Georgia, the American multi-national which had purchased the electricity distribution company in Tbilisi.

At first I felt that trying to document post-Soviet transition to capitalism would be too overwhelming a task. However, with some coaxing from Piers (who became the main character in the film), I realized that by focusing on this one struggle for electricity in Tbilisi, I had a story that could also communicate some of the larger themes that have resulted from the historic transition from communism to capitalism.

Power Trip illuminates, for example, how American optimism can sometimes be profoundly naïve, because a system that works at home will not necessarily work in a foreign culture without first laying a groundwork of education and rule of law. The film also demonstrates the deep disappointment that independence has been to many post-Soviet states, to the point that some are even nostalgic for Soviet domination. And then there’s gradual understanding that electricity is like air to modern civilization — civilization dies without it, and when a society doesn’t have it, it will do anything it can to get it.

So I realized that the way to get to these big issues, was through all the smaller stories – such as pulling down the rats nests of illegal lines and disconnecting poor old ladies when they don’t pay their bills.

Power Trip also provides a window into the lifestyle, culture and music of the Georgian people. Their distinct language (with its own alphabet), its rugged, turbulent history, its amazing natural beauty in the Caucasus Mountains, are all things that the rest of the world knows very little about. Until recently, most Americans had no idea what or where Georgia is.

That is changing, however, as this tiny country receives major geopolitical attention from both the United States and Russia. Power Trip tells a compelling story that provides important understanding of this often overlooked, but strategically important nation.

About the Director: Paul Devlin is the filmmaker of Power Trip, which has won top awards at film festivals in Berlin, Florida, and Hot Docs in Toronto and is being sold worldwide by Films Transit, International.

Paul Devlin is also the filmmaker of the award-winning film SlamNation, distributed nationally in theaters by The Cinema Guild and recently cablecast on HBO/Cinemax and Encore/Starz. His fiction film, The Eyes of St. Anthony, is distributed by Tapestry International.

As a freelance video editor, Mr. Devlin has been awarded four Emmys for his work with NBC at the Olympic Games and with CBS at the Tour de France. His extensive credits as an editor include commercials, music videos, weekly television shows and sports television including the Super Bowl, World Cup Soccer, and NCAA Basketball Championships, among others.

Paul Devlin is also the Producing Editor (or Preditor) on Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme, winner of a Special Jury Award for Documentary Filmmaking at the 2002 Florida Film Festival.

Official Web Site: www.powertripthemovie.com