You can throw stones at me and applaud me
Georgian artist Erekle Deisadze raises the question of creating art as a form of resistance. The musician/songwriter/ poet shares insights, tools, and the impacts of his strategies for responding to political and social issues in Georgia. He admitted that 10 years ago his provocative book titles and performances were driven by a desire for fame. Back then life seemed extremely boring and he was eager to change it for the better. But the conversation shows how his perspective changed through the years as his anger and protest found voice in his songs, books, and performances.
This film was prepared with support from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) South Caucasus Regional Office. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of FES.
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Iva Chitidze, a young filmmaker, and his mother explore their family’s unique past through the pages of the family photo album. Iva’s grandfather, an ethnic Jew, and his grandmother, an ethnic German, married in the 1930s despite many challenges. Through the memories preserved in the album, Iva’s mother recalls her past and the family’s efforts to preserve the culture, religion and traditions of two nations.
This edition is produced with the support of the Israeli Embassy in Georgia.
To see the full project click the link.
A family album
A year ago, Mako Beridze, 41, could not imagine that one day her body would feel like a cage. Although she is not in pain and her brain is functioning normally, her life has dramatically changed. Mako is the director of a publishing house in Tbilisi and she has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that causes her muscles to waste away. Her health deteriorates every day as there is no efficient, approved cure for ALS yet. However, Mako is not giving up and she is trying everything to stop the progression of the disease.
Body as a cage
In many places around the world, albino people often face discrimination their entire lives. They are stigmatized as "white-headed", "white man", and those around tr eat them as "others". In Azerbaijan, albino people prefer to hide and isolate themselves from society. They are rarely interested in socializing.
Unwanted by his mother from birth, Givi also faced difficulties due to his skin color. But he wanted to prove himself in society and show that he is not different from everyone else; he wanted to prove that he is a part of society, too. For Givi, that meant becoming a bridge for "others" and being a pioneer. He says life is worth living regardless of the color of your skin.
This video was prepared with support from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) South Caucasus Regional Office. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of FES or Chai Khana.
Givi
“A bullet is a piece of jewelry if you want to see it as jewelry”.
The idea of making jewelry out of bullets came to Artak Tadevosyan when his daughter asked him what a bullet was for. Artak, a professionally trained painter and sculptor, did not want to tell her what bullets are really used for so he decided to turn an instrument of war into a symbol of peace. His journey resulted in a unique artform, which transforms the physical and conceptual energy of a weapon by turning it into a thing of beauty, an ornament to be worn.
Today many people wear jewelry made from bullets and each of them is motivated by their unique desire to spread the important message of peace.
A bullet
Other short documentaries
An aspiring filmmaker tries to restore her fading childhood memories through someone else's travel stories.
One evening in front of a bar, Hunay bumps into an acquaintance, Benjamin. He recently visited her native country, Azerbaijan, which she had to flee in 2011 with her family for political reasons. A precipitous departure which has resulted in her feeling further and further removed from her hometown, family, and childhood memories every day. What happens when we can no longer return to our hometown, when our childhood memories are fading away? Can memories stay alive through someone else’s?
The departure
Paintings by Shalom Koboshvili reflect a journey through an unknown time and space that gradually faded away. At the end of the 19th century, the Jewish community in Akhaltsikhe was defined by its unique culture and traditions; Koboshvili’s masterpieces, which document the daily life of that community, are all that remain to show us how they lived. He created all his works during the last three years of his life when he worked as a guard at the Jewish museum - the same place where his works have been exhibited for many years.
The Guardian of Memories is a story about an ordinary man whose childhood dream came true in old age when he became the first Jewish painter in Georgia.
This film is produced with the support of the Israeli Embassy in Georgia.
To see the full project click the link.
Guardian of memories
Two young artists decide to be friends and not to worry about being labeled the “enemy”.
As skirmishes and battles fester on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the author of the film lives and creates with her Azerbaijani friend Aysel. Their friendship is unique because they are citizens of enemy countries. This film represents their daily lives and national problems, which they have to face everyday in their personal lives.
The attitude of their own societies is ambiguous. Nobody knows yet that a war will break out in September. Even though they are citizens of bordering countries, they have to travel safe, third countries to meet. They maintain hope - to visit each other’s homelands and never worry about being labeled the “enemy” - despite the situation on the border.
The film was prepared in August of 2020. A month later, the Armenian-Azerbaijanian war took away their friends. Despite the fierce emotions stirred by the fighting, they continued to stay true to their values and friendship.
Jane Jan
With the start of the second Nagorno-Karabakh War, people in the country started to align into pro-war and anti-war camps. People who did not support the war were isolated and condemned by society.
The film's director, Atanur Nabiyeva, faced a similar situation during the war and decided to document how the dynamic played out in her family. After some villages were bombed, relatives living on the frontline also temporarily settled in the Nabiyev family’s house. The author positioned herself as a neutral party to this war, and sought to explore bigger conflict-related questions such as "Who is right?", "Is it worth human death?", "Could there be another solution to the conflict?" Sometimes her journey to find answers caused arguments with her parents. Atanur refuses to accept her parents’ views unconditionally and her position has irritated them to the extent that she feels "alienated" in the family.
This film was prepared with support from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) South Caucasus Regional Office. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of FES or Chai Khana.