Berlin – A documentary years in the making, born from a deeply personal battle with cancer, is set to premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival this week. Giorgi Gagoshidze’s Graft Versus Host isn’t simply a film about illness. it’s a meditation on societal collapse, informed by both the unraveling of the Soviet Union and the artist’s own fight for survival. The 31-minute film, described as visually chaotic yet lucid, blends archival footage, personal reflection, and DIY computer graphics, drawing comparisons to the work of documentarians Adam Curtis and Hito Steyerl.
Gagoshidze, a 42-year-old Georgian artist based in Berlin, began the project as a documentary exploring the economic factors behind the USSR’s collapse. However, his work took an unexpected turn in autumn 2022 when he experienced severe shortness of breath and was rushed to the Charité hospital in Berlin, where he was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The diagnosis and subsequent grueling treatment – a cocktail of chemotherapy followed by an eight-month hospital stay – forced a shift in perspective, revealing unexpected parallels between his personal ordeal and the broader historical events he’d initially set out to document.
“Everything just collapsed,” Gagoshidze recalls, reflecting on the initial shock of his diagnosis. “And the art world is very merciless. It can devour you faster than cancer.” But from this collapse emerged a fresh understanding, a lens through which to examine the complexities of systemic change. The artist found that his treatment plan mirrored the Soviet collapse and its post-transition plan, a realization that became central to Graft Versus Host.
The film explores the idea that the post-1989 economic re-integration of East and West Germany was often framed as an annexation, a concept explored in the acclaimed book The Takeover. However, Gagoshidze’s perspective, shaped by his Georgian heritage, presents a more nuanced view. He points to the 1973 economic experiment launched by Eduard Shevardnadze, then first secretary of the Georgian Communist party, in the village of Abasha as a key example.
The Abasha experiment allowed farmers to retain and sell a portion of their surplus crops, boosting agricultural output and sparking administrative reforms across Georgia. Gagoshidze’s interviews with residents revealed a lingering nostalgia for the era when Georgia was seen as an economic vanguard within the Eastern Bloc. Yet, he also discovered that this experiment inadvertently fostered a shadow economy, creating a network of “tsekhoviks” – underground entrepreneurs operating within state-run facilities – that ultimately contributed to the Soviet Union’s downfall.
As Gagoshidze explains in the film, the Soviet Union’s collapse wasn’t a gradual reform but a rapid descent into a turbocharged form of capitalism. He draws a direct parallel to his own radiotherapy treatment, stating, “Introducing a new immune system in a host is only viable when cancer cells have been successfully suppressed, just like the transition required full privatisation for the functionality of the proposed new economic system.”
His own treatment involved a bone marrow transplant from his father, resulting in graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD), a condition where the transplanted immune system attacks the recipient’s body. “It’s like a permanent civil war in the body,” Gagoshidze says, explaining that medication was crucial to suppress the immune response and prevent further damage. He notes a stark contrast with the post-Soviet countries, which lacked the regulatory mechanisms to manage such a systemic upheaval, essentially undergoing an “immune system transplant without any form of regulation.”
Georgia’s Ongoing Transition
More than three decades after the Soviet Union’s dissolution, Georgia continues to grapple with the challenges of adaptation. While farmers now have the freedom to retain their earnings, they lack the state-provided technology and equipment that once supported their businesses, forcing them to seek new markets outside the country. Georgia seceded from the Soviet Union in 1991 and was granted EU candidate status in 2023, but its progress towards membership has stalled due to concerns over democratic backsliding.
“It’s a loop that never ends, a constant state of catching up but never arriving,” Gagoshidze observes, describing a cyclical pattern of striving for progress without achieving lasting stability.
Fortunately, Gagoshidze’s personal prognosis is optimistic. His graft-versus-host-disease has been relatively mild, and doctors are hopeful he will be cured if his health remains stable until the autumn. “The doctors are happy, and if they are happy, I am happy.”
Graft Versus Host premieres at the Berlin film festival on February 16th, offering a unique and deeply personal perspective on the complexities of systemic change and the enduring legacy of the Soviet era. The film promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of history, illness, and the search for meaning in the face of collapse.
As Gagoshidze’s story demonstrates, the echoes of the past continue to resonate in the present, shaping not only political landscapes but also individual lives. The film’s premiere marks a significant moment for the artist, and a compelling addition to the festival’s program.
What are your thoughts on the intersection of personal experience and political commentary in documentary filmmaking? Share your opinions in the comments below.
