Goethe Institute Hosted Screening of Short Documentaries by Young Journalists

On February 24 Goethe Institute hosted the screening of short documentaries by young journalists. Up to 100 people attended the show.

Organizers offered the audience the following films: -Will Tell You When You Die by Tsira Gvasalia; -Last Glass for Kerosene Lamp by Rusudan Panozishvili and Tamar Paradashvili; -Beyond the Fence by Marika Kochiashvili.

The authors of the documentaries are the postgraduates of the Media Management School of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) and each of the screened documentary is a diploma work.

Tsira Gvasalia's documentary Will Tell You When You Die features one working day of a grave-digger. The film displays how grave-diggers start work at the grave yard, their attitude towards work. Speaking following the screening the author said her initial attitude towards grave-diggers altered after the very first interaction. The author used to consider them as lonesome mournful persons but they turned out totally different. "Each of them is talking about death smilingly, in a light way and that's their common character," Tsira Gvasalia said.

Rusudan Panozishvili and Tamar Paradashvili filmed the 22-documentary documentary about a remote village in Kakheti (east Georgia). Cheremi is distinguished from other villages with the scarcity of villagers. Just up to 20 families live in the village, most of houses are abandoned, only few children go to school. There is no natural gas and electricity in the village. The village dwellers still use kerosene lamps. The documentary features the dull and monotonous village life in an unvarnished way. The documentary was awarded a prize in one of the journalism contests. Last year the film was nominated at the Batumi international film festival, having won the sympathy of the audience.

According to the authors the interest into the Cheremi village was the reality they witnessed on the spot. It is noteworthy that the village is not so remote; it takes just two hours to get there from Tbilisi. The filming lasted few days. One part of the documentary was shot in spring and the second one in winter.

Marika Kochiashvili's documentary Beyond the Fence features the everyday life of Gremi asylum Temi.

"This topic was special to me, since Temi is an amazing place. Healthy and handicapped people live together there. Each of them has a possibility to realize oneself. They face no barriers here," Marika Kochiashvili said.

Following the screening of each movie a discussion was held. Remarks were made.