ReviewsReview | On the Way Home — documenting the lives of IDPs in Tskaltuboby Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning• 6 min readShare▲On the Way Home. Still from film.4.5/5★This 2024 documentary tells the story of the IDPs residing in Georgia’s most famous urban exploration site — Tskaltubo. Located in western Georgia, less than 20 kilometres from Kutaisi, the former Soviet spa-resort Tskaltubo is best known among international tourists today for its multitude of decaying sanatoriums that serve as premier urban exploration sites. Yet for over 30 years, these very same structures have been home to thousands of IDPs, displaced following the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia. Giorgi Kvelidze’s 2024 documentary follows three generations of IDPs — Iamze (81), Khatuna (52), and Nikusha (12) — as they experience the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare to finally move into newly constructed, government-provided housing. As the oldest respondent, Iamze has the most memories of life in Abkhazia, her home from the age of 17 when she married a collective farm driver. As she explains in the film, she was effectively a child when she married, and so it was in Abkhazia that she truly grew up, eventually raising her family there. She explains that when fighting broke out, she was reluctant to leave: ‘If they killed me, at least I would have died at home’. Yet her son, who later died of shrapnel wounds, eventually convinced her — she tells of how they travelled for 20 days on foot, recalling a woman who was forced to leave one of her children behind as she could not carry both. In contrast, the youngest protagonist, Nikusha, has grown up in Tskaltubo, raised by his grandmother Khatuna. He has no personal memories of the conflict, his dreams more focused on moving out of their one-bedroom apartment. Khatuna highlights that he has always dreamed of a big house with a big yard, something the family once had in Abkhazia, the memory of which only exists in pictures for him. Like many other boys of his age, he is fascinated with skateboarding, anime, and video games. Yet, he also has pride in his Georgian heritage, performing a traditional dance for his family and the camera. Beyond the difficulties facing IDPs living in such deteriorating housing for decades, the film also quietly touches upon how conflict not only causes people to lose their homes, but also their family ties. Iamze’s daughter now lives in Greece while her son’s child was taken at only three months old to Russia — she only meets him again in the film, teaching him the family history. In turn, Nikusha is being raised by his grandmother because his mother is working abroad in Turkey, sending her money back to support her mother and son. Interspersed throughout the film, breaking up the narrative, is archival footage, showing both Tskaltubo at its prime as well as photos and videos from Abkhazia, both sourced from the national archives, as well as from the families themselves. The film also lingers repeatedly on the deteriorating structures themselves, highlighting the poor conditions the residents have been forced to remain in for over 30 years while also showing the new life (whether the emerging plant life or the local residents, especially children) that is emerging as a vibrant counterpoint to the decay. Eventually, through the rather unusual method of a raffle in a local football stadium, new housing is assigned. Yet even here, the celebrations are bittersweet — 30 years of a life again uprooted, making for yet another difficult adjustment. Film details: On the Way Home (2024), directed by Giorgi Kvelidze, premiered in Tbilisi on 1 October 2026. It is available to stream on Cavea+. Culture and Features Editor. After years in academia, Xandie returned to Georgia to join OC Media. Her previous work with non-profits focused on Eurasian affairs, particularly queer and gender rights and green politics. She’s also a fan of foreign cinema, tea, and books (but not spilling tea on books).