PROJECT PROFILE

Alexander Kvatashidze | send message

As the first snow comes in November, Caucasus Mountain becomes inaccessible for seven months. Villages in Tusheti and Khevsureti remain abandoned until some travelers come to visit in the summertime. Once there were people living here leading their busy lives but they left for the valley. Only a few individuals remain in the area, forming one-man villages. They spend months in loneliness, eat the food they had secured before the winter came and live day by day waiting for the spring to come. Shamil is a military helicopter pilot serving in the border defense department. Being a highlander himself, he knows every inch of the Caucasus Mountain. While flying over the mountains he keeps his eye on the chimney pipes of those houses where he expects somebody to live in. If there is no smoke, this is a signal for him saying they need his help. Shamil is person who can bring a food, medicine or calendar to the highlander in need. He is the only link between them and the rest of the world.