EXCLUSIVE: 1991 Productions has tapped CAT&Docs to handle worldwide sales of its documentary 9-Month Contract, “an intimate and raw portrait” of the emotional and physical toll of unregulated surrogacy work in the republic of Georgia.
The film directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili makes its world premiere later this month in the HUMAN:RIGHTS competition section of CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. We have your first look at the documentary in the trailer above.
According to a synopsis, 9-Month Contract documents the impact of surrogacy on a mother and daughter, following “Tbilisi-based Zhana, who has intermittently experienced homelessness since leaving the orphanage she was raised in, and resorts to work as a surrogate to provide for her own teenage daughter, Elene. While the subject of her pregnancies remains unspoken between her and Elene, Zhana’s financial struggles persist – and she is exposed to shadowy surrogacy agencies who operate with impunity, volatile relationships with the prospective parents whose children she carries, and constant income insecurity. With no proper regulations in place, she pushes her body to the extreme through multiple childbirths, taking a dangerous toll on her mental and physical health, and eventually risking her life.”
The synopsis continues, “Through the director’s decade-long friendship with the pair, the film sensitively explores the evolving dynamics of their mother-daughter relationship, as Elene becomes aware of her mother’s work and the impact it is having on them both. 9-Month Contract bears witness to the experience and profound fallout of a job which is often made invisible.”
Elene (left) and her mother Zhana in ‘9-Month Contract’
Courtesy of Giviko Tukhareli
The documentary is produced by Tbilisi and London-based 1991 Productions in co-production with Agitprop (Bulgaria), Vincent Productions (Germany) and MDR/Arte. Producing for 1991 Productions are Nino Chichua and Anna Khazaradze, alongside Martichka Bozhilova for Agitprop and Sylvia Nagel for Vincent Productions. The feature is funded by CineDoc Tbilisi, MDR/ArteIDFA Bertha Fund, Eurimages, Fritt Ord/ Chai Khana, Bulgarian National Film Center, InMaat Foundation, International Media Support and Murman Original Pictures LLC.
“Ketevan’s powerful and beautifully crafted portrait of Zhana and Elene and their evolving relationship is both an intimate human drama – and the very real and urgent testimony of a silent and stigmatized workforce,” commented producers Nino Chichua and Anna Khazaradze. “Surrogates in Georgia and other countries facing economic hardship find themselves in precarious situations like Zhana’s, with little support from public institutions or recourse to justice. The practice of surrogacy has expanded globally, but legislation to protect the people doing this work has not – and we hope this documentary will catalyze a change, at a time when bodily autonomy and reproductive rights across the world are increasingly being challenged. We are incredibly proud to be presenting the project at CPH:DOX and to have the remarkable team at CAT&Docs join us in bringing Zhana and Elene’s story to the international stage.”
CAT&Docs added, “9-Month Contract transcends the ethical debate surrounding surrogacy to reveal something profoundly human. Ketevan Vashagashvili’s powerful documentary exposes the complex ramifications of this practice while capturing the heart of what drives these decisions: a mother’s boundless love and her willingness to sacrifice everything to secure her daughter’s future. This intimate portrait reminds us that behind contentious headlines lie deeply personal stories of hope, desperation, and unconditional devotion.”
9-Month Contract was spotlighted at Cannes Docs and pitched at Sheffield Doc/Fest as The Whickers finalist in 2023. It is based on a short documentary director Ketevan Vashagashvili also made about protagonist Zhana in 2012.
Paris-based CAT&Docs specializes in handling “worldwide sales of relevant, innovative, topical and director driven documentaries.” Its titles include Oscar-winner Citizenfour, Oscar-nominated 5 Broken Cameras, Oscar-shortlisted Apolonia, Apolonia and Cameraperson, and Call Me Kuchu, among many others. The CAT&Docs title Jōhatsu also will be screening at CPH:DOX.
1991 Productions is a women-led film production company run by high-school friends Nino Chichua and Anna Khazaradze. “They develop, finance and produce director-driven fiction and documentary films through European co-productions. Their recent feature film, a five-country collaboration Crossing by Levan Akin, opened the Panorama Section at Berlinale in 2024 and won the Teddy Jury Award for Ensemble Cast.”
The company is also known for feature documentaries Smiling Georgia (2023), directed by Luka Beradze, and Glory to the Queen (2020), which screened at over 25 festivals globally and won the Best Documentary award in Georgia in 2021.
Watch the trailer for 9-Month Contract Above.
Content shared from deadline.com.