This short documentary follows Gela Kolochovi, a travelling trader in the Republic of Georgia. Gela travels village to village in a van selling second-hand clothing, household items, and trinkets. How do they pay? Potatoes, the only currency available in the region.
I don’t know that much about the Republic of Georgia. Before watching this documentary the only information I could give you is that it’s somewhere near Russia and they’re good at Olympic weightlifting. Watching the documentary, it felt like they were almost stuck in time and there was no hope or way to move forward. It reminded me a lot of my time in rural Mongolia. The similar houses and landscape of fields and mix of tradition and a time that seems like the 90s but somehow not. One thing that I could see was the familiar feeling of no escape as if your life was already written for you. The Republic of Georgia has experienced a lot of political turmoil contributing to this problem.
After watching this documentary I researched some of the history of Georgia for some context using information from the encyclopaedia.
While this documentary does not represent the entirety of the country it gives a glimpse into a story and we can learn what it is like for a few people. I think that is why I love documentaries so much. It shares such a unique perspective but we can all connect to it in some way. We can all relate to each other. You can watch The Trader on Netflix.
