Though Tedo closes his eyes tight to the stressful situations like any child he reacts to the situation courageously as a child is braver than any man. This courage springs from innocence uncluttered by matters extraneous. That enables him to help the people who come to him, transcending any barriers of language.
The Other Bank by George Ovashvili is the story of 12 year old Tedo and his journey to his childhood home to find his father. Civil strife displaced him and his mother away from their home. He mans up to life as refugee but with all the innocence of a kid. His decision to search for his father in the forbidden areas is childlike but he faces obstacles with a fortitude rarely seen in any adult. But pride and politics of grown-ups will be a barrier in their ways but not for this precocious boy.
A child's heart can magnetize the minds of people devoid of political beliefs and perception. Except a few, those who come across his journey are amiable. He pretends to be deaf and dumb as he has no place in the land as a Georgian. Nevertheless he ends up joining in the revelries of his Abkhachian captors and in song and dance they rediscover ties that still bind them. The movie ends with his smile communicating in the language of a shared culture and tradition - the only thing dividing them being language and politics.