ESoDoc - European Social Documentary is the training initiative for media professionals who are eager to develop their documentary and new media project created by ZeLIG – the School for Documentary, Television and New Media based in Bolzano, Italy.

ESoDoc - European Social Documentary in Georgia is organised locally by Chai Khana in collaboration with GNFC and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia.

Participation is free but you have to register in advance on the following link: https://form.jotform.com/213362119329958

ESoDoc in Georgia will take place from December 7 till December 11th and includes lectures, masterclasses, screening and pitching. You can see the detailed list of the sessions and timeline in the programme:

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

9:30-11:00 CET / 12:30-14:00 GET

How to make films that matter

Margje de Koning - Artistic Director @Movies that Matter (NL)

A keynote on what it takes to make and produce a film that matters.

What are the challenges, how do you choose your topic, the team to work with, be secured and safe, how to make your film being seen, what can the impact of the film be and above all what is the secret of making a film that has a high quality, matters and be seen! 

13:00-14:30 CET / 16:00-17:30 GET

Making Short Form with Impact

Adam Gee - Commissioning Editor @Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (UK)

A look at the role of short form in independent filmmaking today. From the sources of funding to opportunities for iterative development, from smartphone shooting to the marketing mind-set, Adam will give a practical, rounded picture of this most dynamic of forms.

19:00 - 21:00 GET 

Location: Cinema of the National Archives of Georgia

The documentary follows Sunny, a former teacher who now makes her living as an interviewer for sociological studies. This job is her only way of overcoming total solitude and having a social life. She leads us into the narrow streets of Tbilisi, ugly sleeping districts, showing us a variety of flats, houses and other living structures, and lets us listen to Georgian citizens’ thoughts and hopes on urgent political and civic issues.

To attend the screening, please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/222920750967/

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

9:30-11:00 CET / 12:30-14:00 GET

Visions for innovative formats

Kay Meseberg - Head of Mission Innovation @ARTE (DE)

However we may call it TV, Streaming, Cinema, Social Media are all facing a huge hunger for the next thing to reach their audience with engaging and compelling stories. The purpose may differ but the goal to work with great talent, innovative technology and a hungry audience is aligned. This chase is today more and more influenced by factors that seemed not connected at all with all things audiovisual in the past. The impact of a changing world in a pandemic, climate change and demographic changes on the audiovisual is there to stay. A keynote about Remote, Resilience, Well Being, Sustainability, Interaction and Storyworlds but not only. 

11:30-13:00 CET / 14:30-17:00 GET

New Markets – new opportunities for filmmakers 

Stefan Pannen - Executive Producer @Heidefilm (DE)

The last years brought a new boost of changes in the film industry. It's not only the streamers, which attended the market, it's as well the public broadcasters, which re-discovered documentary as part of their key competence since they switched over to presenting their programs online as well, where  documentaries often became a big success. This offers a bunch of new opportunities for documentary storytelling – and the expanding market is urgently seeking for new talents.

December 9 + 10, 2021

9:00-13:30 CET / 12:00-16:30 GET

ESoDoc 2021 - Final Pitch

ESoDoc 2021 participants will present the project they developed from May till now. 

Each day 10 projects will be presented. Each “pitching slot” is 20 minutes long: 7-minutes pitch + 13 minutes for discussion with the panellists.

Saturday, December 11, 2021

9:30-11:00 CET / 12:30-14:00 GET

CinéDOC-Tbilisi - from a weeklong festival to hybrid, yearlong editions

Artchil Khetagouri - Festival Director @CinéDOC Tbilisi (GE)

While we all thought that the pandemic would be temporary and we could continue to organize cultural events as in the past, we had to adapt to a new reality in 2020 and in 2021. We have fully embraced the hybrid festival format, reaching out to audiences through different platforms online, television, open air screenings (if possible), apart from that we have also started to cooperate with universities and schools, screening documentary films online to students and pupils from all regions of Georgia. The pandemic gave us the chance to reach out to new audiences and to switch to digital formats, especially for training sessions such as the Film Mentoring Program, CinéDOC-Summer School and the New Talents Caucasus pitching session. 

11:30-13:00 CET / 14:30-17:00 GET

International Co-Production

Stefano Tealdi - Producer & Director @Stefilm (IT)

Going international is necessary but tricky. Many say “don’t co-produce unless it is absolutely necessary”, but this is not the point anymore: the whole European cinema industry is based on the international co-production between producers. Even though it is not easy and can be even painful it assures resources and a larger number of viewers. Many hurdles - many more than just agreeing on a contract, a budget and a financing plan - have to be overcome. Different needs and priorities the co-producers have, must be cleared. Different rules and regulations in every country and different markets in every country must be discussed. International co-productions means: building trust, defining aims, sharing content, knowing and adapting to different rules and needs, and thinking positive from development to marketing.