Caucasus Talk Circle
Context and Issue:
For a long period of time, Abkhazia was one of the most prosperous regions of Georgia. But the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 did not only cut most political but also economical ties, destabilizing the newly emerged independent countries. Although economic reforms seemed to work and the market system started to develop in Abkhazia, the war of secession that broke out en 1992 led to a dramatic decline of living standard and to an end of communication between Abkhazia and the rest of the country. Today, despite the state of peace, there still is a critical lack of communication between the ethnic communities of Georgia. Although many members of both ethnic groups want a dialogue, they are without resources and facilities to organize an exchanges without external financial and logistic support. Despite a number of different efforts to improve the human rights situation in Georgia, not much has changed. Georgian society had to understand the principle of human rights, appreciate and practice them. Without education on this issue in a country that has been deprived of its rights during most of its history, ending human rights violations will not be possible. With experience in training media professionals, supporting local TV and radio stations and cooperating with other NGOs in multi-ethnic projects, Internews Georgia had the skills to implement a project that brings all these components together and that helps to create a stable civil society in Georgia.
Project's activities:
The objective of this project was to create a media production infrastructure to address the increasingly prevalent conflicts arising between Georgians and Abkhazians and to produce an interactive documentary program with seminar trainers. Before filming and editing background stories, two seminars were first held in November and December 2004 to train documentary teams to create conflict resolution programming, to agree on characters and to plan the filming. Due to the unexpected cancellation of authorizations a few months later, Internews Europe had to get reorganized to meet the project main goal. The documentary "Together and Apart" was finally produced, edited and broadcasted in public. Due to several administrative obstacles, the film was forbidden to broadcast throughout the Abkhazian territory.
Participants and Beneficiaries:
Internews Europe implemented the project ‘’Caucasus Talk Circle’’ in close cooperation with the local NGO Internews Georgia. Internews worked at strengthening the role of local NGOs by including them in the project development and implementation processes, encouraging them to take an active role in the development of an active and informed society in Georgia and Abkhazia. Internews created and trained an interethnic TV production team. The team was composed both of Georgians and Abkhazians that helped to promote ethnic tolerance in the most effective way. Internews Georgia implemented the project in Georgia, organized the training seminar for documentary producers and technicians in the production of programs focusing on conflict prevention and resolution. They were in charge of the shooting and editing process, the organization of public debates through the film presentation to Georgian population. Abkhazian partners were responsible for administration of activities, coordination of personnel and supervision of production of video materials.
Outcomes:
The 'Caucasus Talk Circle' project resulted in the production of a film-dialogue that helped to bring together disparate communities across Georgia for debate and prolonged communication. It gave the opportunity for Georgian and Abkhazian population to discuss the problem in a peaceful manner and to think of possible ways to resolve the ethnic conflict. The documentary program "Together and Apart" was produced by an inter-ethnic TV production team created and trained within the framework of the project. It was presented and broadcasted in Tbilisi on the 11th October 2005. The film presentation was followed by informal discussion of participants on the issue of Georgia-Abkhazia relations and conflict resolution. Internews Europe also prepared a film copy with English subtitles in order to be able to present the film in Europe to non Russian speaking public. In May 2006, nearly one hundred specialists on the Caucasus gathered at the École des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociale (EHESS) in Paris to watch and critique “Together Apart” and to discuss possible solutions to the conflict. As a result, 'Caucasus Talk Circle' gave an opportunity for developing dialogue between different “sides” that up until now have had no chance to communicate on these issues.
"One mustn't bring up the past, but we must try to draw some conclusions from it"
Anatoly, participant of "Together and Apart" documentary program.