Reality intrudes heavily into the life of a seemingly imperturbable German diplomat (Burghart Klaussner, winner of the Best Actor award at Locarno for his role) in Tbilisi, Georgia, when he goes beyond the limits of duty in trying to help a young refugee. Herbert, the eponymous bureaucrat, keeps himself isolated from the day-to-day goings on outside his apartment door, content to play video games when not at work and venturing into the streets only to shop. One day, a street urchin (Lika Martinova) tries to rob him and, instead of turning the young thief in, he helps her escape. When he runs into her again, the beginnings of a friendship take root. As the young girl and the older man slowly come to like and trust each other, they bond over incidentals like computer games and cigarettes. But when one of his co-workers (with whom he's also having an affair) discovers the girl living in his apartment, she immediately leaps to the worst conclusions....

Director Dito Tsintsadze brings the rarely seen streets of Tbilisi to life, delivering a narrative that takes some decidedly unexpected turns, but remains tender and all-too-true. Says the director, "Take a look at your own life, look for small miracles, try to see some magic and do not be too skeptical if you do not understand everything that happens around you. Not everything is bad!" The Man from the Embassy won the award for best screenplay and best foreign film at Argentina's Mar del Plata Film Festival earlier this year.

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