Georgia
Gakharia appears before anti-UNM commission, grilled by ex-colleagues over his once-praised tenure
It was unclear until the last moment whether Giorgi Gakharia would even attend the commission’s hearing.
Tea Tsulukiani
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Georgia
Kobakhidze claims August 2008 war was ‘started by Saakashvili’s regime’
Kobakhidze was responding to a statement made by Tsulukiani, who called the death of soldier Antsukhelidze a ‘senseless victim of someone’s PR’.
Georgia
Georgian Dream’s questioning of military officials over August 2008 War sparks outrage
Georgian Dream repeatedly claimed that former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government started the war.
Bidzina Ivanishvili
Tsulukiani accuses filmmakers of ‘scamming’ Film Centre
Georgia’s Culture Minister, Tea Tsulukiani, has criticised a director for allegedly changing the plot of a documentary funded by the government-run Georgian Film Centre, making the film critical of the ruling party’s founder. The documentary, titled ‘Magic Mountain’, tells the story of a tuberculosis clinic in Abastumani, southern Georgia, and its patients. In 2019, a company associated with the billionaire founder of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, bought the terri
Cinema
‘Georgian cinema is in danger’: filmmakers take on the culture ministry
Since mid-June, Georgian filmmakers and their supporters have been protesting a ‘reorganisation’ of the country’s National Film Centre by the Ministry of Culture, warning that it aims to extend full government control over the country’s cinematic output. ‘Censorship’ is the word that Gaga Chkheidze uses to describe the Ministry of Culture’s reforms at the Film Centre. Chkheidze is the founder of the Tbilisi International Film Festival and a former board member of the Georgian Film Developm
Georgia
Podcast | Tea Tsulukiani’s chokehold on Georgian culture
Georgia’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth has seen a lot of changes since Tea Tsulukiani’s appointment as minister, with Tsulukiani, a veteran member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, overseeing the ‘reorganisation’ of the ministry and its agencies. This week on the Caucasus Digest, we spoke to Lika Zakashvili, editor-in-chief of Publika, about Tsulukiani’s tenure as minister and her reorganisation efforts. Luka Beradze, director of Smiling Georgia, talks about wh
Georgia
Ruling party member to head Georgia’s Writers’ House
Georgia’s Minister of Culture has appointed an MP from the ruling party as the new director of the Writers’ House of Georgia, a state-supported but historically independent literary association. Thursday’s announcement that Ketevan Dumbadze would be taking on the role was met with criticism from writers and other cultural figures, who accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of attempting to exert control and pressure in Georgia’s cultural spheres. ‘Georgian Dream have just added another he
