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Ultra-nationalist protesters in Georgia clashed with police on Friday as they attempted to derail the premiere of a critically acclaimed movie about gay love in the capital Tbilisi, Reuters reported.

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the road outside a movie theatre in the city centre ahead of the first screening of "And Then We Danced", which tells the story of young two male Georgian ballet dancers falling in love. Chanting "Long live Georgia" and "Shame", the protesters, some holding crosses and religious icons, tried to force their way inside the cinema but where held back by riot police that cordoned off the premises.

While tickets for the scheduled three days of screenings at a handful of cinemas in Tbilisi and the port city of Batumi sold out quickly, the influential Orthodox Church denounced the film as an attempt to undermine Christian values and legalise "sin".

Demonstrators threw firecrackers and smoke bombs towards the entrance of Tblisi's Amirani cinema, as moviegoers - many of them young people - struggled to get inside. One young woman trying to go watch the movie was hit by a stone and taken away in an ambulance, local media reported.

Police said they arrested 12 people, one over the stone-throwing incident and 11 for trying to force their way into the cinema.