Jashi's Sundance-screened Swiss-Georgian-German co-production - recipient of prizes including the Cinema du reel Young Jury Special Mention and Best Film and Audience Award at Mexico's UNAM film festival - has been picked in the European Documentary selection.

Highlighted alongside four other works, ranging from celebrated director Sergei Loznitsa's look at the history of the 1941 Babi Yar massacre near Kiyv to The Most Beautiful Boy in the World by Kristina Lindstrom and Kristian Petri, the documentary has been billed for the European award as "[a]n ode to the rivarly between men and nature".

Praised for "astonishing cinematic style" at Sundance Film Festival, where the director - recipient of awards from Jean Rouch and Nyon film festivals, among others - was celebrated for "shrewdly observant eye", Taming the Graden looks at residents of a seaside locality in Georgia and their reactions to the sudden development of century-old trees being uprooted from the surroundings.

Over in the European Discovery Prix Fipresci section, designated for debut feature works, Kulumbegashvili's 2020 drama is one of six selections. It joins the likes of The Whaler Boy by Philipp Yuryev and Playground by Laura Wandel in the nominees for the category.

The work, a Georgian-French co-production, earned its director the principal prize of the Trieste Film Festival earlier this year, with praise as a "debut film displaying a rare authorial confidence, as well as pure stylistic coherence".

The judges also lauded Ia Sukhitashvili as "the astonishing lead actress" of the feature and said the acting, visual and audio elements of the film "continually encourage viewers to question their opinions on this astounding and thrilling story". The recognition joins awards and nominations at international events ranging from San Sebastian and Toronto film festivals to Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Nominations for this year's European Film Awards are still being announced, with the European Film Academy- and European Film Academy Productions-presented prize set to identify best films in 26 categories in Berlin.