Stand by Your President

Originally from the southwest of the Netherlands, Sandra Roelofs met Mikheil Saakashvili while studying in Strasbourg. She fell for this politically-minded Georgian’s relentless charm and followed him first to the United States and then to his homeland. She was present when, partly under his leadership, the Georgian government was deposed during the Rose Revolution in 2003, and again at his inauguration as president, and 10 years later at his electoral defeat, partly brought about by the release of photographs of torture in Georgian prisons and the growing corruption of the government in power. The camera follows Roelofs over the course of her last year as Georgia’s First Lady. Backed by a wealth of archive material, she talks about her love for her husband and his country, about how power changed him, and about their family life and the pain caused by their physical separation. We see Roelofs at public appearances in Georgia, alongside her husband and children in promotional films, and with her parents back in the Netherlands, where she reflects on an eventful life and marriage. Saakashvili himself frequently appears on-screen, and the material we see clearly illustrates the painful process of transformation from passionate idealist to slick politician.