Ana’s life in Gali (district of Abkhazia) has always been a struggle against stereotypes. Photography, however, gives her a way to express herself. A roaming camera is a short film which portrays a 17-year-old girl’s wish to break the “rules” that exist in her community and become a traveler like her camera traveled over borders and cities before she received it--and her images travel over the great expanse of the internet via photos on Instagram.

After a 77-year-old grandma discovered the riches of technology, she is enjoying life in two worlds: real and digital. Svetlana Tamazyan was only 50 when her husband died, leaving her to care for their five children. Despite the challenges, she raised the children alone and ՝ a small village, Akori, in Armenia’s northern Lori Province. Today her children live far from her, some in the Armenian capital Yerevan and others in Russia. To stay in touch, they bought her a tablet and taught her how to use Viber. Svetlana quickly discovered the riches of social media. Today she watches films as well as videos about sewing and cooking on her tablet or smartphone. Best of all, the devices allow her to stay in touch with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Afgan Maharramov, 54, has been driving a taxi on the central streets of Baku for nearly 20 years. He is the only breadwinner in his family. But Afgan, like many other traditional taxi drivers, is struggling to compete against new taxi apps. Afgan says work for traditional taxis is gradually disappearing from the market, making it harder for drivers like him to earn a living. Nearly a thousand drivers working in Baku have been boycotting taxi apps since the summer of 2020. They also established the Public Union of Taxi Drivers in order to protect the rights of taxi drivers in the age of smartphones. Others, like young inventor Rahim Khoyski, believe rideshare apps are the future. Rahim, a former taxi driver, is developing his own app for cabbies and passengers. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Published with the support of COBERM, a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the organization Chai Khana and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of either the EU or UNDP. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Parenting virtually while earning a living for your family far from home Virtual relations became a part of our reality over the past few decades. The covid-19 pandemic made it especially actual, even painful. Online Mother is a film about the virtual relations in the family, distance, and belonging, mostly caused by poverty in post-Soviet Georgia. After experiencing motherhood online for a year, the author of the film, Ketevan Vashagashvili is returning to her son in Georgia. At the same time, the film explores the stories of four Georgian emigrant mothers who live in different developed countries to earn a living for their families in Georgia. These women’s stories capture the lives of a generation of mothers who left their children in Georgia with the hope to earn some money and return soon. In reality, some of them spend years, even decades abroad. This ‘participatory’ short film is created with the collaboration of mothers who are still desperately waiting for the day they can see their loved ones again.

Young Armenian composer and DJ reflects on the challenges for humanity created by digital innovations and technology. In this short film musician Vardan Harutyunyan shares his thoughts about the transforming world of music and its future.