The Way Home – Offen Sprechen
The Young Generation and Filmmaking in Georgia and Uzbekistan. Panel discussion as part of the Open Wounds, Open Words Forum Special of the 75th Berlinale
Part 1 – Filmmaking in Precarious Political Conditions
In Georgia, the pro-Russian government is dismantling political and individual freedoms and using extensive violence against its own population. We talk to Tiku Kobiashvili (director of SHINAGANI GAZAPKHULEBIS Q’VAVILOBA, 2025 Forum Special), Salomé Jashi (filmmaker and curator of DOCA, the Documentary Association Georgia) and Zaal Andronikashvili (literary scholar and journalist) about what this means for the country’s film industry and how films are reflecting the political circumstances.
Includes a screening of the documentary GZA SHINISAKEN – MERAB MAMARDASHVILI (The Way Home – Merab Mamardashvili, Nikoloz Drozdov, Georgian SSR 1990, 19 min), a cinematic-philosophical reflection on Georgia’s struggle against the hegemonic power of Soviet Russia.
Part 2 – Grassroots, Movement, Workshops: The Tashkent Film School
With workshops and intensive mentoring, the Tashkent Film School empowers its participants to express themselves through film. How does this private initiative differ from film schools in Uzbekistan, and what impact is its work having on the diversity of the Uzbek film industry? We discuss these questions with Sabina Bakaeva (director of NAGOTA, 2025 Forum Special), Michail Borodin and Julia Shaginurova (Tashkent Film School).
The event is part of the Up To East program of the bpb.
Literary scholar Zaal Andronikashvili is a research associate with the project Small/Minor Literature as World Literature. Literature as a Medium of Emancipation.