9-Month Contract
For single Georgian mother Zhana, surrogacy is the only way to give her teenage daughter Elene a better and more dignified life. She has no education, a job as a cashier at the local supermarket, and has grown up somewhere between the orphanage and the streets of Tbilisi. In desperation, she rents her womb to foreign childless couples. 14,000 dollars for nine months of pregnancy. The amount, which at first seems large, quickly runs out and before she knows it, she is stuck in a vicious spiral. From pregnancy to pregnancy, her health deteriorates. Zhana tries to keep her growing belly hidden from her daughter, but Elene is also growing bigger and smarter, and what happens when she sees through her mother? Fear of poverty and working as a surrogate pushes her ageing body to the limit.
Ketevan Vashagashvili is a documentary filmmaker based in Tbilisi. She is a Chevening alumna with an MA in Digital Documentary from the University of Sussex (UK). Her main interest lies in social and human rights issues. Ketevan has 14 years of experience working at various Georgian TV channels and online platforms, directing and producing TV documentaries and programmes.
