Issue no: 843www.georgiatoday.ge

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NEWS PAGE 2

SOCIETY PAGE 11

SOCIETY PAGE 8

POLITICS PAGE 7

CULTURE PAGE 12

CULTURE PAGE 15

In this week’s issue...Georgia Drops 10 Spots to 111 for Environmental Performance

Young Pianist Sandro Nebieridze Wins Grand Prix in Moscow

• MAY 13 - 16, 2016 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50

Continued on page 2

Shooting Dinosaurs: Ogden on the Georgian Film Industry

Foreign Premieres of “They will Return” by Director Zaza Nanobashvili

Council of Europe Launches Action Plan for Georgia (2016-2019)

Georgian President Backs Marriage Bill, Refuses to Take Stance on Same-Sex Unions

BY NICHOLAS WALLER

The United States will activate its European missile defense shield beginning Thursday despite vehement protests from Russia who see the sys-

tem as a direct threat to Moscow’s security in Europe.

The project has been a decade in the making as Washington looked to develop a ballistic missile defense shield for its NATO allies in Europe. The system was originally intended for possible Iranian-made medium-range rockets, but Moscow saw the development of the system as a direct threat to the credibility of its nuclear deterrence.

US to Activate European Missile Shield

FOCUSON UKRAINETODAY PAGE 3

Georgian-born Zguladze Out as Ukrainian Government Purges Reformists

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 20162 NEWS

“This system now gives us the capability to pro-tect our NATO allies in Europe,” US Deputy Sec-retary of Defense Robert Work was quoted by Reuters as saying on May 11. He added that the system, installed at an air base located in Romania, is not directed toward Russia.

The Kremlin, however, has reacted with repeated threats to counter a US-led defense system with the deployment of Iskander medium-range tactical nuclear warheads in Russia’s exclave Kaliningrad region and in Crimea, which Moscow invaded and illegally annexed from Ukraine in March 2014.

The issue of missile defense has been one of the most toxic bones of contention in US-Russia bilat-eral relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Washington has sought to assuage Russian fears over the years that the shield is not directed at or capable of intercepting Moscow’s missile systems.

Military analysts both in Russia and abroad believe Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strident oppo-

Continued from page 1

US to Activate European Missile Shield

sition to the system is based on the Kremlin’s inability to reach a level of parity with NATO’s conventional ground forces, which continue to maintain a vastly superior edge in quality, supply and training over their Russian counterparts.

Russia’s Defense Ministry in keenly aware that despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a massive military modernization overhaul after a brief war with Georgia in 2008, Moscow’s nuclear deterrent remains the country’s only reliable trump card.

The Romanian missile-defense site will form the heart of a larger network of US warships that are armed with radar and missile interceptor systems. The ships will jointly patrol the Black, Mediterra-nean and Baltic seas on a rotational basis with other naval ships belonging to fellow NATO members.

A second missile defense installation located in Poland is expected to go online by early 2018

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will arrive in Romania to attend the system’s launch on Thursday.

BY NICHOLAS WALLER

The North Caucasus experienced a dramatic spike in violence across the region in April as shootouts and sui-cide bombers claimed dozens of lives in the restive region.

The majority of the attacks took place in the Scotland-sized republic of Dagestan on the Chechen and Azerbaijani borders.

At least nine people were killed and two others wounded in mid-April during intense weeklong clashes between armed Islamic insurgents and Russian security service troops in Dagestan, accord-ing to reports by independent North Caucasus news outlet Kavkaz Uzel.

Clashes occured in a village in Dagestan’s moun-tainous Sograti Gunib district when a 25-year-old man identifi ed as Akhmed Shamkhalov opened fi re on local police offi cials during a routine document check.

Shamkhalov was killed in the ensuing shootout and was later linked by Russia’s FSB security ser-vices to a local militant group that had repeatedly threatened attacks on Russian interior ministry offi cials in recent months.

A second deadly clash on April 14 in Dagestan’s Dzhengutay Buinaksk district – an area closer to the regional capital Makhachkala – broke out when traffi c police operating in the area were fi red upon by a driver and passenger who were later identi-fi ed by local pro-Moscow offi cials as members of a local insurgent group.

Local offi cials in Dagestan on April 29 reported that a retired police chief from the region’s Shamil District had been shot and killed by militants.

Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee said on May 4 that three gunmen had been killed in an operation in Dagestan’s central Kizilyurt District. The committee identifi ed one the militants killed in the operation as Omar Sabuyev, the alleged leader

Casualties Mount in North Caucasus as Violence Spreads in April-May

of an organized crime group known as the Kizily-urt Gang.

Six local policemen were later wounded in an insurgent attack at a security checkpoint in Chechnya on May 9. Chechnya’s Interior Ministry said the incident near the capital Grozny left three police offi cers severely wounded, though none was expected to succumb to their injuries.

Islamic insurgents fi ghting in the isolated moun-tains of Chechnya claimed responsibility for the attacks. The incident took place on the 12th anni-versary of the assassination of then-Chechen Pres-ident Akhmad Kadyrov, who was killed in a bomb-ing at Grozny’s central stadium during a Victory Day parade.

Chechnya and Dagestan have been the epicenter of a low-level guerilla war between insurgents seeking to establish an Islamic state in the North Caucasus.

The confl ict stems from the period following the brutal Chechen wars in the 1990s.

After Moscow re-established control over the republic, many former secular independence fi ght-ers turned to ever more brutal methods of combat-ing their erstwhile enemy, while embracing an imported form of radical Islamist ideology that had been brought by Arab volunteers in the early 2000s.

BY NICHOLAS WALLER

The Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy’s recently published Envi-ronmental Performance Index (EPI) placed Georgia 111th on its list of 180 countries.

The ranking sees Georgia drop 10 places com-pared to its previous ranking in 2014

The EPI index – fi rst published in 2006 – quanti-fi es and marks the environmental performance of a country by analysing its policies towards nine major environmental issues.

According to the report, Georgia still lacks a coherent policy on a number of key environmental issues, including freshwater quality, toxic chemical exposure, municipal solid waste management, wet-land loss and recycling.

Georgia Drops 10 Spots to 111 for Environmental Performance

The EPI revealed the Nordic nations of Finland, Iceland and Sweden as the world’s most eco-friendly countries.

Georgia’s South Caucasus neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia were placed 31st and 37th on the list, respectively.

Azerbaijan’s relatively high rating is somewhat controversial with regards the heavily industrial-ized areas along the Caspian Sea, namely the age-ing Soviet-era oil facilities near Sumgayit, where high rates of cancer and ground water poisoning are common.

Sumgayit is often listed as one of the top 10 most polluted sites on Earth alongside Russia’s Dzhezhinsk chemical weapons plant and Norilsk’s mining and smelting facilities, as well as Ukraine’s abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Somalia, an East African country that has endured constant warfare since 1991, ranked last on the EPI index, coming in at 180.

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 2016 3NEWS

There are always celebrations in the ‘Georgian House’ restaurant: corporate events, birthdays and festive parties, weddings held in pomp… you will always see a lot of guests here. And just as it did in the 19th century, our refi ned interior creates a festive mood with its details and decor.A team of professionals stands ready to serve you at restaurant Georgian House, able

to assist in the successful planning of your event- from the red carpet, a designer inte-rior, champagne pyramid, guest book corner, candies, a fi ery fountain, champagne show, special festive dishes, and hall layout and decoration, to a beautiful cake, projector, spe-cial festive lightning, sound equipment and a varied music program which is divided into Georgian and foreign blocks.Restaurant Georgian House is the fi rst high-class restaurant in Georgia and selects only

professionals as its partners. Our customers trust us for our steadily high level service and delicious food. The confi rmation of this trust is in the awarding of our restaurant with the Golden Brand award. Georgian House became the most popular in Georgia in its business fi eld. At the 11th

Golden Brand award ceremony, a team of experts named the restaurant Georgian House a selected brand. One more triumph and another stimulation for the team of Georgian House, working 24 hours a day to please. Come and visit us! You will be sure to feel that you have found your “Georgian House.”

www.georgian-house.ge www.facebook.com/georgianhouse.ge

BY NICHOLAS WALLER

In a move widely seen as a major blow to Ukraine’s reform move-ment, the country’s Georgian-born First Deputy Interior Minister Ekaterina Zguladze tendered her

resignation to the country’s cabinet of ministers late Wednesday evening.

Zguladze, a fi ery 37-year-old reformer known by her diminutive “Eka”, previ-ously served in the administration of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. She has been instrumental in overhauling Ukraine’s notoriously corrupt police force since being appointed to her position in December 2014.

Zguladze did release a formal state-ment regarding her resignation. Her former boss, Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov, later confi rmed that she intended to step down in a Tweet late Wednesday.

“Eka is stepping down as the fi rst Dep-uty Minister. The government has satis-fi ed her request. Sincerely: Big thanks for your job,” Avakov posted on his Twit-ter account.

Avakov later said Zguladze would offi -cially announce her resignation as well as her decision to remain in Ukraine as a member of a group of advisors.

“She (Zguladze) has accepted my proposition to resign. She will continue to help reform the Ministry of Internal

Georgian-born Zguladze Out as Ukrainian Government Purges Reformists

Affairs,” said Avakov.Zguladze fi rst joined the Ukrainian

government as one of dozens of foreign – mostly Georgian – pro-Western, reform-ist politicians who were given key posi-tions in the post-Maidan Revolution Petro Poroshenko government. The group was tasked with fundamentally overhauling Ukraine’s political culture and steering the nation of 50 million out of Russia’s orbit and towards Euro-Atlan-tic integration.

Ukraine’s corrupt, and often criminal, Soviet-style police force was seen as a major obstacle towards implementing fundamental reforms. As she had previ-ously done in Georgia during her six-year term as First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Zguladze carried out a compre-hensive overhaul of Ukraine’s traffi c police that gained praise both in the country and in the West. She also helped rebuild Ukraine’s civic police and intro-duced new Western-trained patrol units – many of which included Ukrainian women for the fi rst time – that quickly earned the trust of the local population.

OLD GUARD PUSHES BACKRumors of Zguladze’s demise have cir-culated throughout Kyiv in recent weeks as top reformers in the government have been forced to resign or been removed from their posts.

Many analysts believe the moves are part of a larger power struggle between the Western-oriented reformists that

came to prominence immediately after the 2013-14 Maidan Revolution overthrew disgraced former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, and powerful oli-garchs who have long-standing ties to corrupt old guard politicians and warm relations with the Kremlin.

Ukraine’s deeply entrenched oligarch class – led by Donetsk-based, pro-Russian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov – has in recent months forcefully pushed back against any attempt to overhaul the coun-try’s corrupt post-Soviet political and economic structure.

REFORMISTS OUT AMID GOVERNMENT DISARRAYAs the post-Maidan governing coalition fell into disarray in the late winter and early spring, leading reformers that included the widely lauded US-born former Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, ex-Economic and Trade Minister Aivaras Aboromavicius of Lithuania, Georgian-born former Deputy Prosecutor General David Sakvarelidze and his Ukrainian colleague Vitaly Kasko were all dismissed or forced from their posts and later replaced with individuals tied to Yanukovych.

Zguladze’s resignation came only a day after Odessa’s reformist Deputy Gover-nors, Maria Gaidar and Sasha Borovik – both of whom are closely aligned with Georgia’s former president-turned Odessa Regional Governor Saakashvili – were forced from offi ce.

Eka Zguladze meeting with police offi cials in Odessa, June 2015. Source: Mayak Continued on page 4

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 20164 POLITICS

Continued from page 3

Georgian-born Zguladze Out as Ukrainian Government Purges Reformists

Offi cials in the Poroshenko government have justifi ed the moves by citing a new law on barring dual citizenship for mem-bers of the government. Critics, however, have said the decision to enforce the law was aimed at purging foreign-born pro-Western reformers from Ukraine’s polit-ical establishment.

Zgualdze’s recent attempts to deepen the reforms within the Interior Ministry has put her at loggerheads with Avakov and his associates, most of whom are backed by powerful oligarchs and Poroshenko, himself.

Mounting accusations from the reform movement have grown louder in recent weeks as Zguladze and another Georgian national, Ukraine’s National Police Chief Khatia Dekanoidze, have seen their efforts to revamp the country’s law enforcement bodies blocked by the courts and the country’s Prosecutor General’s offi ce.

Police offi cers and law enforcement members previously sacked or lustrated for their ties to the Yanukovych regime have systematically been reinstated by the courts or independent appeals boards that are dominated by Yanukovych-era offi cials.

Their reinstatement has led to increased pressure on the government’s reformers, many of whom are overruled or contra-dicted by more powerful elements in the judicial system and upper echelons of the interior ministry.

The former head of the national police’s security department, Georgian-born Grigory Grigalashvili, was forced to resign and replaced by Avakov with Yevgeny Koval, a man tied to Yanuko-

vych’s feared Berkut riot police, who has been accused of widespread corruption and cracking down on protestors during the Maidan Revolution.

In the aftermath of Zguladze’s resigna-tion, speculation has now turned to how long her close ally Dekanoidze will remain in her post. According to Ukrain-ian weekly the Kyiv Post, Dekanoidze’s attempts to implement comprehensive reforms have been sabotaged by loyal-ists closely linked with Avakov.

News site Ukrainska Pravda reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous source, that Dekanoidze could also be fi red or demoted to the position of advi-sor by the end of the week.

In a separate development on Wednes-day, another reformer closely associated with Saakashvili, Yulia Marushevska – who gained fame as the Maidan Revolu-tion’s poster girl and who now serves as Odessa’s customs chief – was abruptly reprimanded by Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service.

Roman Nasirov, the service’s director, recommended that Marushevska should be immediately removed from her posi-tion for negligence and lack of formal experience for the job.

Nasirov was acting on the orders of Ukraine’s new Prime Minister and close Poroshenko ally Volodymyr Groysman, who ordered a comprehensive audit of all staff decisions made at the country’s customs offi ces.

Both Saakashvili and Marushevska spoke out against the review, claiming it was aimed at halting ongoing reforms at Odessa’s port and further curtailing Saakashvili’s waning influence over national policy.

OP-ED BY ZAZA JGARKAVA

The pre-election campaign will start on June 8 and last until midnight on October 8. Voting will begin at 8am on October 8.

There is one month left until political parties can enter the ‘game’, but appar-ently the opposition have already set off, with the United National Movement (UNM) announcing street protests aimed at ex-premier Bidzina Ivanishvili and his construction projects, the Free Demo-crats’ complaining against the famous ‘cable case’ and General Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze, while the non-parliamentary opposition threatens to protest the elec-tion code. One wonders whether the many protestors will unite against the ruling government and if they do, when?

The weight of protests is becoming more intense can be felt even in the political talk-shows. However, it is the actions of the government that matter more than the threats of the opposition, as it meets all with Olympian serenity. Political analysts say the governmental mood resembles that of the pre-Rose Revolution period, when Shevardnadze’s government acted as if nothing was wrong while the situation went from bad to worse.

“Perhaps the government is taking into consideration the mistakes made in She-vardnadze’s era. However, the impres-sion is that nobody in the government is thinking about anything and other than a single man – Bidzina Ivanishvili,

Learning from Past Mistakes?

who came in the name of a Messiah,” said political analyst Soso Tsintsadze in his interview with the newspaper Rezo-nansi. Gia Khukhashvili, former ana-lytical adviser of the government, also predicts the revolutionary development of processes. However, he thinks that the street rallies will take place not before, but after the elections: “It is highly likely that even those entities opposing each other will come out to the streets in pro-test to question the legitimacy of the elections. The government might face a crisis that is hard to overcome. In the midterm elections they had diffi culties managing even one election district (Sagaredjo), so imagine managing the volume of Sagaredjo district multiplied by 75,” said Khukhashvili.

Whether the roses will bloom in autumn and the predictions by analysts prove true depends heavily on the unity of the opposition- something which can already be excluded at this stage. It is truly hard to imagine that pro-Russian Patriotic Alliance and pro-Western National Move-ment or pro-Russian Nino Burjanadze and pro-Western Irakli Alasania will stand side by side. Perhaps this incom-patibility is the main reason behind the calmness of the government. Maybe Georgian Dream is counting on that very non-united opposition, thinking it can easily beat them while they are divided. Nevertheless, the government should by all means take into consideration the precedents that are far beyond this logic.

In autumn 1991, one ‘Large Coalition’ was formed. Nothing united the subjects apart from their hatred of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia; their only drive

the thirst for power. At that time, too, their method was to come together to get rid of the government, settling rela-tions among themselves only afterwards and beating groups that had different orientation and aspirations later.

What do the pro-Western Alasania and the Republican Berdzeneshvili brothers have in common with those ‘peasant-working class’ powers who united against President Saakashvili and fi nally gathered in the Georgian Dream? Obviously noth-ing other than their thirst for power. And we are already seeing the outcomes of all of this as our government is incapable and ineffi cient, while the development of our country has ground to a halt. We should assume that the oppositional par-ties will not allow such mistakes to be repeated.

As for the announced street protests, these have not yet spread beyond the talk show studios. Obviously, the main oppositional power, the UNM, has com-pletely different plans: turbulent rallies in the streets and pushing; using the helpless silence, indecision and weak-ness demonstrated daily by the current government to its benefi t.

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 2016 5POLITICS

BY ANNA KALANDADZE, VOICE OF AMERICA’S GEORGIAN SERVICE

On April 22, Douglas Lute, US Ambassador to NATO, while speaking in London, said that even if NATO’s doors are open to new

members, it did not intend to expand in the near future. One of the reasons cited was that it could destabilize Russia. To discuss the growing threat coming from Russia and Georgia’s NATO aspirations ahead of the Warsaw summit, we sat down with Dr. Michael Carpenter, Dep-uty Assistant Secretary of Defense with responsibility for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, for an exclusive interview.

HOW DO YOU SEE ASPIRANT COUNTRIES LIKE GEORGIA ON ONE HAND, AND ON THE OTHER HAND RUSSIA, TAKING MR LUTE’S STATEMENT, AND WHAT IS YOUR ASSESSMENT?US policy is that we fi rmly support Geor-gia’s Euro Atlantic aspirations and that we stand by the message from the Buda-pest Summit in 2008 that affi rms that

Dr. Michael Carpenter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense with responsibility for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia

Dr Michael Carpenter Talks NATO Aspirations and Warsaw Expectations

Georgia and Ukraine would become members of NATO, this language further reaffi rmed in subsequent summits in Chicago and Wales. Our policy has not changed; we have a robust series of tools to support Georgia, including the Annual National Plan. NATO’s door remains open and all support continues. I’m

proud to say that the Alliance will expand and, by inviting Montenegro, there is no better testament to that expansion.

DO YOU BELIEVE THE WEST SHOULD MODIFY ITS STRATEGY TOWARDS RUSSIA TO DETER MOSCOW? DOES, AS GENERAL BREEDLOVE SAID, RUSSIA AND INSTABILITY ON EUROPE’S SOUTHERN FLANK POSE SERIOUS THREATS TO US AND EUROPEAN SECURITY INTERESTS?There is no doubt that Russia’s aggres-sive actions in Ukraine have caused the Alliance to take a good look and reeval-uate its security posture. There is a real need, following Russia’s aggressive moves in Ukraine, to enhance deterrence and defense of the Alliance. What you saw in Ukraine is a violation of the bedrock security of the international order, the inviolability of borders- something we had considered sacrosanct since World War II. So yes, the Alliance is adapting to the new threats it’s facing. As a mat-ter fact, Russia’s security strategy pub-lished last year labels NATO and US as threats to Russia. So we are investing in ensuring defense and deterrence capa-

bilities, such as a readiness action plan by NATO which has many different components to it. The US just announced that we’re quadrupling our investment to help European allies to USD 3.4 bil-lion, and that will go to a variety of lines of effort to enhance rotational force posture in Europe by US forces, to include more pre-positioning of war-fi ghting equipment- the most modern war-fi ght-ing equipment, especially on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance and also other areas, more training, more exercises. It will include more investment in infrastruc-ture to enable our forces to come in dur-ing the event of crises, and move rapidly. And lastly, it will invest in the resilience of our non NATO member countries and partners in the region to enable them to withstand coercion and overcome vul-nerabilities that they face vis-à-vis aggres-sive Russia.

WHERE DO YOU SEE GEORGIA-NATO RELATIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE, AND WHAT IS THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME OF THE WARSAW SUMMIT FOR THE ALLIANCE AND FOR AN ASPIRANT COUNTRY LIKE GEORGIA? NATO and Georgia have a very close rela-tionship. Georgia is the second largest non-NATO member contributor to the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. 850 Geor-gian troops serve there without any caveats. They also contributed to the Iraq mission. Georgia is the only non-NATO member to be a member of the NATO response team. We deeply value Georgia’s contributions. Going forward, looking at Warsaw, I expect the Alliance will build off of the substantial package that is underway with Georgia, and this was declared in Wales.

The tremendous number of troops that Georgia has contributed in Afghanistan are really the best soldiers that we see out there Continued on page 6

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 20166 POLITICS

OP-ED BY NUGZAR B. RUHADZE

The issue has already hit the point where one wants to vomit – it has taken us almost thirty years to decide whether we want or need

to be part of the western military alli-ances and its economic unions to make ourselves comfortable as a nation, and to steer clear of the dangers hanging over our baffl ed heads like the sword of Damocles.

And we are still where we have always been, making no substantial headway in the chosen direction – the offi cially cho-sen direction being a beeline towards NATO.

We are told that we are right at the threshold of it, but stepping over the Rubicon is not yet allowed; we are prom-ised wonders will happen, but the moon is still very far away; we are praised for our assiduousness in doing our home-work, but the certifi cate of graduation is still locked up in Western political vaults; we are patted on our scrawny shoulders during diplomatic receptions in the most infl uential capitals of the world, but behind the impenetrable western doors, we are shown wagging fi ngers for wanting too much; we are tempted to challenge our former big brother but nobody gives us assurances of help if the Bear goes suddenly berserk; we are complete on the maps within our erstwhile geographic contours but this is only a craved-for picture of Georgia with no sanguine forecast. Look how rich we are with heartening pledges, but utterly deprived of actual deliveries on promises!

There is one irrefutable truth working

Where to Turn? Waiting for that Sigh of Relief

here: Georgia will never again have the same sense of security it once had when it was conveniently parked in the soviet nest of nations, feeling as snug as a bug in a rug. At that time, we felt quite com-fortable, save some of those worrisome soviet quirks and kinks. The anti-soviet revolution rendered us free as far as acquired liberty can go.

We now need to take urgent steps towards effective cooperation with the rest of the world, pregnant with all kinds of perils that may hit Georgia, too. But those steps are hampered by certain components of the political process cur-rently taking place in Georgia. I am talk-ing about the nation-wide chasm con-cerning the country’s geopolitical orientation. This nation does not know for sure what it wants; this nation is confused about its geopolitical affi lia-tions; this nation is at a total loss in terms of making a choice between steering itself towards west or towards north. And the gist of the problem is that con-sensus may not be expected in the next umpteen years concerning our niche in the family of nations, within which most members know almost exactly what they want, where they belong and what direc-tion they wish to go.

Where do we actually want to be? In the hands of the biggest western military alliance and economic union or in the déjà vu clutches of the still vibrant Rus-sian neo-imperialism? Maybe in neither! Why is the situation in this country so dubious? Why is the nation split so pain-fully? Why are we vacillating so much between the two sources of our security?

The answers come belatedly to these questions. We seem to be busier with sociological research of the ratings of our numerous political parties than with the response to these crucial questions.

Are we just sitting back and waiting for the manna from the sky to fall? Or are we in fact playing a double game in search of better ways of securing the military, political, and economic safety of the nation, courting both Russia and West at the same time?

Locally, Georgia is torn apart on the issue of its geopolitical orientation within a motley bunch of political powers, vehe-mently opposing each other. I have writ-ten about the issue on many previous occasions but I have never been this caustic and pessimistic before. My fury was triggered by the heated open con-troversy between those powers. The impression is that they almost wanted to eat each other alive on the subject of Georgia’s belonging in NATO – the alli-ance which is not yet ready either polit-ically or technically to consider our membership for real, though it talks profusely and enthusiastically about the possibility.

It is said although that the majority of our people are supportive of Georgia’s western orientation and consider them-selves Europeans, these are only senti-ments. The business is not yet here, and it is also said that it will take a while to arrive. When I say business, I mean Georgia’s actual membership in Euro-Atlantic structures, including NATO and the Eurounion in the fi rst place. If this happened, any controversy about the issue would be happily obviated, and we would all sigh with relief.

Source: www.willisfi nexglobal-news.comAnd bilaterally allies will continue to

enhance the types of interactions that they have with Georgia. From a US perspective, we’ll look to enhance the types of training, exercises and interac-tions we have with the Georgian Armed Forces.

HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE US-GEORGIA COOPERATION IN THE DEFENSE/MILITARY SPHERES?I would characterize military-to-military relations as excellent. The tremendous number of troops that Georgia has con-tributed in Afghanistan are really the best soldiers that we see out there. Geor-gia has seen 30 of its troops killed and more than 300 wounded in action, so it has really contributed a lot that we greatly value. Going forward, I think there is scope for doing more in Georgia. So as we approach the end of this Administra-tion, we’ll be looking at what other train-ings we should put in place to augment the Georgian deployment program- a program that trains Georgian troops to go on an expeditionary mission, like the one in Afghanistan, or to do counter-insurgency operations. All in all we’ll be looking at what other capabilities Georgia will need for self-defense and that will include additional training modules.

SOME EXPERTS SAY THE LACK OF THE WESTERN

REACTION, INCLUDING SANCTIONS, IN 2008 DURING THE RUSSIA-GEORGIA WAR EMBOLDENED RUSSIA TO MOVE INTO UKRAINE. WOULD YOU AGREE?I think we’ve seen over the course of the last 10 years an increasingly assertive and aggressive Russia. We saw that in Georgia. We certainly witnessed that in Ukraine and I think that the international community has recognized that in order to deter this type of aggression in future, signifi cant cost needs to be imposed on Russia for behavior that transgresses international norms. So, as a response in terms of intervention in Crimea, the US has actually lead a diplomatic effort with not only our European partners, but also with others, including Japan, to impose sanctions on Russia. And those sanctions are tied to its intervention in Crimea, as well as subsequent interven-tion in the Donbas. It is clear that Russia recognizes that if there are costs imposed it will change its behavior. So, I think that this is the policy going forward and that it will serve us well.

Dr Michael Carpenter Talks NATO Aspirations and Warsaw Expectations

Continued from page 5

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 2016 7POLITICS

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bul-garia and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Daniel Mitov, and Deputy Secretary

General of the Council of Europe (CoE), Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, paid an offi cial visit to Georgia on 9 May 2016. The offi cial launching of the Coun-cil of Europe Action Plan for Georgia (2016-2019) was held within the framework of the visit.

The Action Plan includes projects that have been or will be carried out by the Council of Europe in Georgia during the period 2016 to 2019, aimed at promoting co-operation with the Government of Georgia towards strengthening human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Action Plan was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in March 2016, through consultations between the Government of Georgia and the Coun-cil of Europe.

Georgian Foreign Minister, Mikheil Janelidze, Bulgarian Minister Mitov and Ms. Battaini-Dragoni delivered their remarks during the launching cer-emony, which was followed by a working meeting led by Director of the Council of Europe Offi ce of the Directorate General of Programs (ODGP), Ver-ena Taylor, and Georgian First Deputy Foreign Minister, Davit Zalkaliani. Ms. Taylor, Chairperson of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Nino Gvenetadze, Deputy First Minister of Corrections of Georgia, Tamar Khulordava, First Deputy Minister of Edu-cation and Science of Georgia, Ketevan Natriashvili, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Tengiz Shergelashvili, Deputy Min-ister of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia, Revaz Javelidze, Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Mamuka Vas-adze, and member of the Central Election Com-mission, Zurab Khrikadze, addressed the partici-

Council of Europe Launches Action Plan for Georgia (2016-2019)

pants of the meeting, which, among others, was attended by representatives of the foreign diplo-matic corps accredited to Georgia and offi cials from various government agencies.

Discussions during the working meeting focused on projects under the Council of Europe Action Plan 2016-2019. Representatives from the Georgian line ministries spoke about the priorities of co-operation with the Council of Europe under the Action Plan.

Following the launching ceremony, the Bulgarian and Georgian Foreign Ministers and the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe held a joint press conference.

“We enjoy express support from our strategic partner – the European Union, as well as from EU Member States,” Minister Janelidze said. “We con-tinue to make efforts to mobilize further support for the effective implementation of this ambitious Action Plan, and we are glad that a large part of the Action Plan for 2013-2015 has been fulfi lled suc-cessfully, according to our partners. It means that Georgia continues to effectively comply with its commitments undertaken within the framework of the Council of Europe.”

As part of their offi cial visit to Georgia, the Bul-garian Foreign Minister and the Deputy Secretary General of the CoE held meetings with the Presi-dent of Georgia, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and the Speaker of the Parliament in which they highlighted the on-going reforms in Georgia in the areas of democracy, human rights and rule of law. Discussions also focused on the human rights situation in Georgia’s occupied ter-ritories.

The guests also visited the occupation line near the village of Khurvaleti and laid a wreath at the Fallen Heroes Memorial.

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 20168 SOCIETY

BY ZVIAD ADZINBAIA

Within the last year 90 people have died and another 3,834 were injured in Tbilisi as a result of traffic

related incidents.The Georgia Alliance for Safe Roads

(GASR) hosted a UN Decade of Action for Road Safety conference on Tuesday, May 10, at Hotel Rooms in Tbilisi. The event was organized in partnership with the United Nations Development Pro-gram (UNDP) and US Embassy in Tbi-lisi, involving some key representatives of the government and various other organizations.

The conference addressed a number of core issues which concern safe roads, transport accidents and victims of such accidents in Georgia. The speakers high-lighted that Georgia is one of the leading countries among EU states in terms of number of victims due to traffi c acci-dents. Eka Laliashvili, Chair of the Board at GASR, said that in the EU, an average of 51 persons died per million citizens in car accidents in 2014, while in Geor-gia, this number reached 140.

Laliashvili told GEORGIA TODAY that in order to reduce car accidents in EU countries, respective governments are carrying out suitable measures and implementing proper policies. The pol-icies entail providing safe infrastructure

Shombi Sharp, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Offi ce in Georgia, addresses the conference. Photo: Zviad Adzinbaia

Road Safety Conference Addresses Key Issues

and transport through imposing speed limits and other kinds of bans. “All of which are accompanied by intensive educational campaigns,” Laliashvili explained, adding that complex approaches by government agencies will defi nitely serve as a precondition for a signifi cant reduction in road accidents.

Shombi Sharp, Deputy Resident Rep-resentative of UNDP Georgia Offi ce, said that the UN considers road safety a top priority globally. “The General Assembly launched a decade of Action on Road Safety. Here in Georgia, road safety is a very important issue as many people die and many more are injured,” Sharp declared. He said his Offi ce is very much encouraged to see a new national strat-egy and action plan on road safety from the government of Georgia. “Civil soci-ety, such as GASR, is initiating a myriad of actions in Georgia, and, overall, we are optimistic that we can make a dif-ference and save the lives of Georgian citizens,” the UNDP offi cial concluded.

In his conference speech, Shalva Khut-sishvili, Georgia’s Deputy Interior Min-ister, spoke of pilot programs that his structure has introduced for about 30 high schools in Georgia; educational actions that are of paramount importance in order to increase awareness on road safety among youngsters. “Issues of road safety are not properly perceived in this country and, as a consequence, the num-ber of casualties is high,” Khutsishvili stated.

In addition to the MIA initiative, a rep-

resentative of the Education Ministry said that they are engaged in making road safety related issues a part of the National Curriculum.

Jumpstart, a local NGO, also introduced a new slogan for their ongoing awareness campaign, “Share the Road.” The cam-paign aims at changing human behavior regarding road safety through education.

For the GASR, this conference is no inaugural event to addressing key road safety-related matters as the organiza-tion fi rst united a group of volunteers and other local NGOs in late March, holding a rally to protest the rampant parking and road violations that occur on the pavements of the Georgian capi-tal, Tbilisi.

The protestors demanded that the police enforce the existing laws on pedes-trian rights and issue fi nes to those who violate the regulations. The protestors later took to Tbilisi’s streets and pro-ceeded to tag illegally parked cars with stickers demanding that the vehicle be moved.

The participants of the Tuesday con-ference also included Davit Narmania, Mayor of Tbilisi; Courtney Autrian, Public Affairs Offi cer at the US Embassy in Tbilisi; Giorgi Seturidze, Head of the Road Departments of Georgia at the MIA; and Avtandil Talakvadze, Head of the Emergency Situations Management and Coordination Department.

Georgia Today is proud to state its support for the Road Safety campaign: #ShareTheRoad

BY TAMAR SVANIDZE

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili on Wednes-day refused to weigh in on the highly contentious issue of same-sex marriages

in the country, but supported a recent bill defi ning civil unions as between a man and woman.

At a question and answer session with Tbilisi public school students, Margve-lashvili said the issue of homosexual unions is “not a topic of discussion” and any attempt to facilitate a national dia-logue on the matter is only a ploy by politicians to divert public attention away from more pressing problems fac-ing the country.

“More than 20 percent of our land is under occupation by foreign military troops. Russian soldiers are stationed only 40 kilometers from Tbilisi. This is not an important enough issue that it needs to be discussed. It’s not of anyone’s concern. Don’t let politicians manipulate the situation and make you believe that this is an important problem facing the country,” Margvelashvili said while answering questions about European values in Georgia.

Margvelashvili was quick to defend a new constitutional bill that defi nes mar-riage as a union between woman and man and said any controversy surround-ing the law is meant as a smokescreen to cover other main problems that plague the country, including poverty, unem-ployment and corruption

“This issue makes me want to sit down and think about who I am and how my ancestors would have thought about this topic. Instead of thinking carefully about the issue, they (the opposition) are try-ing to force me into believing that being Georgian means having a discussion about the defi nition of marriage. We’ve already done that through a civil code that says marriage is a union between a woman and a man,” he said.

“99.9 percent of the Georgian popula-tion is in agreement regarding the defi -nition of marriage. Georgian Law and the Georgian Parliament have already

Georgian President Backs Marriage Bill, Refuses to Take Stance on Same-Sex Unions

reached an agreement on this…those speaking out about the issue of same-sex marriages is nothing but a “tempest in a teacup,” added Margvelashvili.

On May 5, a bill defi ning marriage as strictly heterosexual in nature was dis-cussed and backed by the parliamentary committee for human rights. The session was attended by LGBT rights activists, but the bill passed despite signifi cant vocal opposition from various sectors of society.

Members of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition have come out for the new law while the Republican Party, Free Demo-crats and United National Movement in most part opposed to the bill.

Same-sex marriage is already banned under Georgia’s civil code, which defi nes marriage as a voluntary union between a man and woman. The wording of the Georgian Constitution, however, vaguely refers to the basis of marriage as the equality of rights and free will of two consenting adults.

An initiative to legally defi ne marriage was originally proposed former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in March 2014, as part of an overall discussion regarding anti-discrimination laws.

Rights groups in Georgia have argued that despite the legalization of same-sex marriages, gay and lesbian couples would be unable to register their unions due to the country’s deeply conservative sexual and relationship mores.

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 2016 9BUSINESS

PASHA Bank Named Fastest Growing Corporate Bank in Georgia

On April 18th, 2016, for the second year in a row PASHA Bank was named the Fastest Growing Corporate Bank in Georgia by the Global Banking and Finance Review Awards.

A Baku-based fi nancial institution, PASHA Bank has been providing corporate and investment bank-ing services to large and medium-sized enterprises in Georgia since 2013.

In this short time, the Bank has been awarded various international designations, one of them the Global Banking and Finance Review Award. Since its inception in 2011, it has aimed to refl ect the innovation, achievement, progressive and inspira-tional changes taking place within the Global Financial community. The Awards were created to recognize companies of all sizes which are prom-inent in particular areas of expertise and excellent within the fi nancial world.

“We are more than happy to win this award for the second year in a row. For a young company like

PASHA Bank this award is proof that we are mov-ing in the right direction and that our team is doing its best to reach new heights together,” said Shahin Mammadov, CEO and Chairman of Board of Direc-tors at PASHA Bank. “We strive to contribute to the growth and development of the Georgian and regional economy through funding value accretive projects while providing top-quality service both locally and regionally. We are committed to our long standing philosophy of doing business in an ethical, reliable and sustainable manner. Interna-tional recognitions like this defi nitely help our motivation and self-confi dence, which is so impor-tant for every young company.”

The Awards have evolved and grown to include those in Banking, Foreign Exchange, Insurance, Pension Funds, Compliance & Advisory, Corporate Governance, Brokerage & Exchanges, Project Finance, Binary Options, Investment Management, Technology, Asset & Wealth Management, Exchange Traded Funds, Real Estate and other areas.

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GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 201610 SOCIETY

The One that Got Away, or Hostile Takeover: Etseri, Svaneti

Tony Hanmer runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 1300 members, atwww.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri:www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti

DEAR DEBBIE LEE,

Well, after a few more “barn intervention” attempts, all failed because he’s on to me

now, I did go and talk politely to the neighbor, who’s also a good friend. He got the mes-

sage, was sympathetic, and told his son to get that rooster this evening and tie him up.

SO... hopefully this is the end of it! Thanks much for your advice, and I’ll likely write to

you again if ever I’m in a bind.

Signed,

Trouble-free Tony

Ps Just a fi nal update: another neighbor tells me now that last year, it was OUR rooster

attacking hers, even tearing his comb off! She had to “put him down”, but didn’t even feel

necessary to tell me until now, so I suppose that these goings-on are quite normal in the

poultry kingdom... Who knew? And my wife even seems fi ne with killing our rooster

before the invader can, and letting him rule the roost as it were... So, I bow to superior

knowledge.

DEAR TORTURED,You need to have a frank talk with your neighbors. I, too, googled “catching chick-ens”; the most often recommended way is actually at night, while they’re roosting, either asleep or at least much less alert. You need to persuade them to catch him then, if you can’t do another “barn job” of your own, because he roosts in their barn, and then they must tie him up and get him out of the habit of invading, whatever that involves. If they’re really your friends, they should see the necessity of this. You might also suggest that he is actually ruin-ing the life of your rooster, and mildly threaten your use of stronger force against him than merely chasing him off if they don’t comply... Let me know how it goes!Best of luck,Debbie Lee

DEAR DEBBIE LEE,I’m an amateur farmer in Upper Svaneti, with

a couple of cows and seven or eight chickens. We had two roosters which grew up together and got along, but we gave the larger one away to distant neighbors because they didn’t have one.

Now, the rooster of another, closer neighbor has started boldly invading my garden, fi ghting with our remaining, smaller rooster, and taking over his “harem”! The neighbor even told me the other day that his rooster had moved all my chickens onto his land for a while when I wasn’t looking! They didn’t stay there long, but the threat was obvious. The neighbor does have several hens, but not as many as I do, so I sup-pose that his rooster is after a larger fl ock of groupies with whom to stroke his own ego. He is a fi ne fellow, but this has got to stop.

Whenever I’m out there, for morning or even-ing milking or other outside gardening work, I chase this foreign rooster back across the fence. But not fi ve minutes later he’s back again, beat-ing off his weaker rival and “jumping” my hens at every opportunity... I can’t be out there all day long guarding them against him! And his nature seems to be forcing him to behave like this, so while I don’t want to put up with it, am getting angrier and angrier to wanting to kill the monster, I can hardly actually blame him.

Recently I tricked him into entering my barn, which he did with great trepidation, mostly because all the other chickens were in there too. Then I tried to shut him in there, but he squawked daringly past me out into freedom before I could shut the door. Eventually, with much stealth and care, I was able to repeat this successfully. I had blocked the little “manure window” in advance, so that he couldn’t get out via that, and after some minutes’ frantic chase, I actually caught him! Took an awkward “cell-fi e” to prove it, too.

Then I tied his feet together with some string, and was preparing to tie him to a manger post; but he “gave me the slip” because my string was too humanely loose, and was gone again in a fl ash! Much groaning and gnashing of teeth, and some most evil thoughts of “coq au vin”. I may never be able to coax him back in there again now, my best way of catching him. I’ve looked online for “how to catch a chicken”, but the ways suggested are for one’s own bird, not for an outsider, which is naturally much more suspicious. I’m at my wits’ end, and my own poor rooster is most depressed, while my hens don’t seem to care who is their man! Help, please...

Signed,Tortured Tony

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 2016 11

Read. Learn. Enjoy. Pick up a copy of Georgia Today Education

at any BIBLUS shop or phone 229 59 19

Price: 2 Gel

SOCIETY

OP-ED BY TIM OGDEN

Everyone knows that Georgians are fi ercely proud of their country, food and history; it is made abundantly clear to any visitor within hours of

arriving in this country. Yet Georgians are also enamoured with their cinema industry, and with good reason.

Georgians are an inherently dramatic people, which (from what I’ve seen) makes them natural actors. Not that I’m an expert; I studied drama at school because I was useless at art and down-right dangerous in the design technology workshop, and had a small part on a Georgian soap opera last year (as a result of which I now have a devoted fanbase of women aged over 70).

However, the experience at least taught me when people are uncomfortable and very aware that they are on camera...mostly because I looked as though some-one had a gun to my head, while the Georgians around me performed with ease. Even people off the street who were roped into being extras suddenly start-ing acting (in every sense of the word) as though they’d been to drama school with Clooney and Depp. Damned con-vincing they were, too. I suppose quality actors are necessary due to the fact that Georgia does not have Hollywood’s mil-lions at its disposal; there’s no room for any graduates of the Nicholas Cage school of acting here.

The Georgian fi lms that I’ve seen seem to attempt to paint a very realistic pic-ture of things in this country as they are or were. Nana Ekvtimishvili’s ‘In Bloom’ is a stark portrait of Georgian life in the chaos of the 1990s, while Rusudan Chkonia’s ‘Keep Smiling’ shows Georgian poverty, desperation and misogyny at their best.

But if you ask me, there’s room for

Georgia needs to show the country for what it is in its fi lms- the hipster capital of Eastern Europe

Shooting Dinosaurs: Ogden on the Georgian Film Industry

improvement. Not that I’m pretentious in my cinematic

tastes; the only times I’ve sat through arthouse fi lms have been to impress various lunatic arty girls in my youth (which was a price worth paying in the end, to be honest). I’m more of a car chase and gunfi ght sort of chap. I’m not suggesting Georgian fi lms should have more of those, mostly because anybody fi lming a car chase in this country would have diffi culty in conveying to the audi-ence which is the car chase and which is passing traffi c, but I do think that Georgia needs to show the country for what it is in its fi lms.

‘In Bloom’ is a fi ne picture, and deserved the accolades it got; the same can be said for Zaza Urushadze’s ‘Tangerines’. How-

ever, neither of these show Georgia the way it is today. The turmoil of the 1990s is over, and really, there’s been more than enough drama in the Georgia of the last fi ve or six years. I’m quite sure that for-eign audiences who know little and less about Georgia will fail to understand that the depressing circumstances of post-Soviet Georgia are now little more than memory, and Tbilisi is now the hipster capital of Eastern Europe. The Georgian Ministry of Economics is for-ever banging the touristic drum, but people will be far more likely to visit this place if they can see it for what it looks like now as opposed to what it once was.

I also think Georgians should do more comedy. Georgians are not a humourless people; far from it, in fact. Personally, I’m not enamoured with Georgian com-edy as it is; even after jokes have been translated and explained, I’m still left wondering what was so funny. However, on a personal level Georgians rank along-side the British and the Russians as the funniest people I’ve met. I’m sure Geor-gians are capable of producing some natural, easy-going comedy movies, which refl ect their day-to-day behaviour in ways that the contrived trash produced by people like Amiko Chokharadze never could.

Speaking of behaviour, I regret to say that this is something which also needs to change. Zaza Urushadze and his team embarrassed themselves in Hollywood by play-fi ghting in front of their waiting limousine and then falling asleep dur-ing the Oscars ceremony; hardly the behaviour of professional people who deserve to win such a prestigious award. Likewise, the two bosses of a fi lm com-pany I once worked for here managed to secure invitations to the London fi lm festival’s networking meetings which spanned a week, but spent the time get-ting drunk on complimentary wine and came back with no useful contacts.

People in the fi lm industry must begin to appreciate that it is an industry and should be treated as such, otherwise prospective international co-producers

will rapidly lose interest. Yet I remain optimistic for Georgia’s

cinematic future...but more gunfi ghts, car chases and dinosaurs, please.

People in the fi lm industry must appreciate that it is an industry and should be treated as such, otherwise prospective international co-producers will rapidly lose interest

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 201612 CULTURE

10 Galaktion StreetTel: (995 32) 2 45 08 08

E-mail: info@peoplescafe.ge

With the blessing of Georgian Catholi-cos-Patriarch and direct participation of the clergy, the

Anchiskhati’s canonical replica has been traveling to holy places and Geor-gian communities to make a pilgrim-age. Traveling with the icon is infor-mational literature and movies in different languages with the aim of familiarizing those overseas with Geor-gia and its sacred history.

The movies were created by the pil-grim team head of Anchiskhati, direc-tor Zaza Nanobashvili. Generally, the movies are about Georgian sanctuaries, the pilgrimage of the Anchiskhati canonical replica, and immigrants. The director illustrates specifi cally forgot-ten stories of Anchistkhati and Iveron in fi lms which have been awarded at Orthodox Film festivals on numerous occasions (F/F in Kiev “Pokrov” and F/F in Batumi “St. Andrew’s Cross” – for the best presenting of sanctuaries and historical events).

Nanobashvili’s movies have been shown in more than 20 countries since 2008 in both Georgian and foreign communities.

In recent years, besides Film Festivals, the director has been invited to sym-posiums and conferences, visits, cul-tural and offi cial meetings.

The documentary film “They’ll Return” Parts I and II is about immi-grant life; how they left the country, about their reasons for not going back and the current demographic situation in Georgia.

Foreign Premieres of “They will Return” by Director Zaza Nanobashvili

Shooting began in 2008 with the pil-grimage of the Anchiskhati litany, mostly taking place in countries other than Georgia.

This year the group visited several European countries before Easter: In Prague - Charles University, in Karlovy Vary; the Serbian church in Frankfurt, in Belgium – Brussel’s Georgian Church and in Paris – the St. Nino Immigrants Temple.

By the blessing of the Georgian Patri-arch, the icon was accompanied by Tbi l i s i -Tsknet i ’s pr iest Ioane (Okropiridze).

The group was received warmly and important meetings took place in which both Georgian and foreign students were involved, sharing their thoughts and impressions.

At every meeting, after movies show-ings and events, interviews were held.

The organizers of the meeting in Prague was the Iveria Community- namely Madina Kriz and Tamar Melik-ishvili.

In Karlovy Vary: Asmat Shamatava, through which the icon was invited to the Orthodox Church in Karlovy Vary.

In Frankfurt: the Serbian Church Father Marco and the group’s perma-nent host, Aleko Kalandarishvili.

In Belgium the Brussel’s Archbishop Dositeos blessed the showing of Nanobashvili’s movies about immi-grants and the history of Anchiskhati in the Brussel’s Residence Hall of St. King Tamar. At the time, parliamentar-ian Guguli Maghradze was on a visit to Brussels and also attended the meet-ing. After watching the movie, she

delivered a cordial speech to the par-ish. Archbishop Dositeos also made a speech and blessed guests after watch-ing the movie.

And fi nally in Paris, with St. Nino church Father Archil’s blessing, the icon was placed in the Emigration Church of St. Nino. Immigrants of 1921 met the litany Anchiskhati with special

honors and glory. This meeting was particularly important because the second part of the immigrant movie was exactly about the emigration of 1921.

Besides other various holy places, the litany Anchiskhati was also placed in Mount Athos and visited Iveron on the celebration of Iveria’s Virgin

Mary icon.Father Archil and Father Ioane con-

ducted the church service of Anchiskhati for national welfare. The fi lm crew shot very interesting material about the offspring of 1921 immigrants which will be put together for the next part of the upcoming premiere of the fi lm and shown to large audiences. On his recent travels abroad, the director took inter-views from many famous people and had an interesting meeting with Greek singer Iovanna which was later used in the second part of the fi lm.

The group expresses its gratitude to organizers, representatives of embas-sies and hosts for the warm welcome and for its support of such important issues.

The biggest problem that the group faced was transportation of the non-standard size icon and the equipment of the crew. The airline Wizzair resolved this problem selfl essly and gratuitously – (with the help of Tbilisi airport secu-rity service, Kutaisi airport and Wiz-zair’s employee Ms. Tamar Mshven-ieradze.) This is the second time this airline helped the group. First from Warsaw and now from Budapest in both directions, thereby contributing to important work. The group expresses its profound gratitude to airline Wiz-zair and its management.

The group expresses its profound gratitude to airline Wizzair and its management

St. Nino church, Paris

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 2016 13CULTURE

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BY EKA KARSAULIDZE

A feature-length fi lm by Nino Basilaia ‘Anna’s Life’ received a Merit Award at the International Film Fes-tival ‘Construir Cine’ in

Argentina. This is fi rst international recognition for the fi lm about the diffi -cult fate of a single mother.

The Construir Cine International Film Festival itself has a consistent focus on the subject of work and workers. This year’s festival presented 40 fi lms by directors from Chile, Spain, France, Japan, USA, Argentina and Georgia and took place in Buenos Aires from May 2 to 10.

‘Anna’s Life’ is a story of a young Geor-

‘Anna’s Life’ Takes First International Prize

gian single mother called Anna, who, hoping to improve her own living con-ditions and the life of her autistic son, who lives in a children’s home, decides to go and fi nd work in the United States. However, the US embassy does not give her a visa. Taking a risk, she then sells her house and the gives money to an unknown man who promises to get her the required visa. Inevitably, he turns out to be an ordinary crook and the turns Anna’s life upside down.

The two other main awards presented were the Best Feature Film, which went to ‘The Woman of Mud’ by Chilean direc-tor Sergio Castro San Martin, and the Award for Excellence, which judges pre-sented to Japanese fi lmmaker Naomi Kawase for her work ‘A Bakery in Tokyo’.

Georgian actress Ekaterine Demetradze

portrays the principal character of ‘Anna’s Life’. The fi lm is a winner of a competi-tion organized by the Georgian National Film Center.

The world premiere of ‘Anna’s Life’ took place at the Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF) in Sweden where it was nominated for an Ingmar Bergman Award. The fi lm was also selected alongside 300 others to be screened at the Beijing Inter-national Film Festival last month.

The 3rd International Film Festival Construir Cine was held in Buenos Aires with the support of the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts of Argen-tina. The main purpose of the festival is stimulating the creativity of contempo-rary fi lmmakers and supporting the pro-duction of independent fi lms which describe the world of ordinary workers.

Learn about Georgian Cine Culture with the Monthly Expat CineClubBY IVETA GEDVILAITE

In January a small group of movie fans from different countries who are living in Tbilisi decided to launch the Tbilisi CineClub. The main aim was to get a deeper

understanding about Georgian culture and to get familiar with the best Geor-gian movies.

Thanks to a Former director of the Georgian National Film center, Nana Janelidze, and thanks also to the gener-osity of fi lm directors, it was possible to

fulfi l this dream. CineClub leaders Nonna Sagaan Gubler

(responsible for relations with directors and protagonists) and Tobi Walsh (responsible for administration and venue) have been arranging unforget-table movie evenings since January- four such meetings and screenings at Cine-Club to date: “In bloom” by Nana Ekvtish-vili (presented by David Vashadze from the Georgian National Film Center), “Tangerines” (director Zaza Urushadze presented the fi lm), “Will there be a Theater up there?” (director, Nana Janelidze) and “Line of credit” by Salome Alexi (with main actress Nino Kasradze).

From May 17, Tbilisi CineClub plans to have monthly movie evenings at Ami-rani cinema with the kind support of Movie Distribution LTD. On Tuesdays or Mondays, movie fans will be able to watch the best Georgian movies and Georgian creative documentary fi lms. After each screening, the fi lm director, protagonist, producer or fi lm critic will answer questions from the audience. It’s a great chance to get to know Georgia in a deep, interesting and entertaining way.

The next fi lming to take place, on May 17, 7 pm, consists of two short fi lms. The fi rst, the 30-minute-long ‘Buba,’ is a fi lm from the fi rst female Georgian director Nutsa Ghoghoberidze (1930, without dialogue but with Russian and English subtitles). The story weaves a folkloris-tic tale of 1930s Racha.

The second fi lm “Felicita” is a 40-min-ute fi lm of Salome Alexi, granddaughter of the director (Salome’s mother Lana Ghoghoberidze is also a famous Geor-gian director). The story tells of a woman who is illegally working in Italy. Her husband dies in an accident and she is unable to attend his funeral.

Salome Alexi and Lana Ghoghoberidze will join CineClub after the screening for a discussion.

New movie fans are very welcome! Tickets cost 3 GEL and can be pur-

chased in Amirani Cinema and on kinoafi sha.ge.

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 201614 CULTURE

WHAT’S ON IN TBILISIEvery Wednesday ticket price: 5 Lari

May 13-19

THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE(Info Above)Start time: 12:30, 15:00, 17:15, 20:00Ticket price: 8-16 Lari

OUR KIND OF TRAITORDirected by Susanna WhiteGenre: ThrillerCast: Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, Stellan SkarsgårdLanguage: RussianStart time: 17:00, 19:45, 22:30Ticket price: 11-16 Lari

Captain America: Civil War(Info Above)Language: RussianStart time: 22:35Ticket price: 15-16 Lari

MUSEUM

GEORGIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

SIMON JANASHIA MUSEUMAddress: 4 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 99 80 22, 2 93 48 21www.museum.ge

PERMANENT EXHIBITION: GEORGIAN ARCHAEOLOGY FROM 8TH MILLENNIUM B.C. TO 4TH CENTURY A.D

THE CAUCASUS NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM COLLECTION RENEWED EXHIBITION

EXHIBITION OF GEORGIAN WEAPONRYNUMISMATIC TREASURYThe exhibition showcases a long history of money circulation on the territory of modern Georgia from the 6th century BC. to 1834.

MUSEUM OF SOVIET OCCUPATION

Address: 3 Sh. Rustaveli Ave.

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONHere, visitors can enjoy the State’s personal fi les of “subversive” Georgian public fi gures, orders to shoot or exile, and other artifacts

THEATRE

GABRIADZE THEATREAddress: 13 Shavtelis St. Telephone: 2 98 65 93

May 13RAMONADirected by Rezo GabriadzeEnglish SubtitlesStart time: 20:00Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari

May 14STALINGRADDirected by Rezo GabriadzeEnglish SubtitlesStart time: 20:00Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari

May 19MARSHAL DE FANTIE’S DIAMONDDirected by Rezo GabriadzeEnglish SubtitlesStart time: 20:00Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari

GRIBOEDOVI THEATREAddress: 2 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 93 43 36

May 14CASTINGN. KvijinadzeLanguage: RussianStart time: 18:00Ticket price: 5 Lari

May 15SCARLET SAILAlexander GrinDirected by Avtandil VarsimashviliLanguage: RussianStart time: 12:00Ticket price: From 5 Lari

May 18LATE LOVEA. OstrovskyLanguage: RussianStart time: 18:00Ticket price: 5 Lari

May 19I AM NIKOLAI GUMILOVPoetry FantasyLanguage: RussianStart time: 18:00Ticket price: 5 Lari

VAKHTANG CHABUKIANI TBILISI BALLET ART STATE

SCHOOLAddress: 1 V. Vekua Telephone: 98 60 41, 93 12 63

May 18LONELINESS Mamuka SalukvadzeTAVPARAVNELI CHABUKIManana DoiashviliDirected by: Lela ChincharauliArt Director: Nino AnaniashviliStart time: 18:00Ticket price: 16 LariVenue: Rustaveli Theater

MOVEMENT THEATREAddress: 182, Aghmashenebeli Ave., Mushthaid parkTelephone: 599 555 260

May 13, 14SILENT REHEARSALDirected by Kakha BakuradzePerformance Start time: 21:00Ticket price: 15 Lari

May 15RECITATIVE IN THE CITYDirected by Kakha BakuradzeStart time: 21:00Free Entry

GEORGIAN STATE PANTOMIME THEATRE

Address: 37 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 99 63 14

May 13HOST AND GUESTVaja PshavelaDirected by Amiran ShalikashviliStart time: 19:00Ticket price: 10 Lari

May 14KRIMANCHULIDirected by Amiran ShalikashviliStart time: 19:00Ticket price: 10 Lari

May 17PSEUDOCYESISDirected by Luka ChkhaidzeStart time: 19:00Ticket price: 10 Lari

TBILISI VASO ABASHIDZE MUSIC AND DRAMA STATE

THEATREAddress: 182 D.Agmashenebeli Ave.Telephone: 2 34 80 90 www.musictheatre.ge

May 19MIDSUMMER NIGHT DREAMWilliam ShakespeareDirected by Davit DoiashviliLanguage: GeorgianMusicalStart time: 19:00Ticket price: From 8 Lari

CINEMA

AMIRANI CINEMAAddress: 36 Kostava St.Telephone: 2 99 99 55www.kinoafi sha.ge

Every Wednesday ticket price: 5 Lari

May 13-19

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WARDirected by Anthony Russo, Joe RussoGenre: Action, Adventure, Sci-FiCast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett JohanssonLanguage: EnglishStart time: 17:00Language: RussianStart time: 22:15Ticket price: 11-16 Lari

THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIEDirected by Clay Kaytis, Fergal ReillyGenre: Animation, Action, ComedyCast: Peter Dinklage, Tituss Burgess, Jason SudeikisLanguage: RussianStart time: 11:45, 13:45, 15:00, 17:30Ticket price: 8-12 Lari

A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KINGDirected by Tom TykwerGenre: Comedy, DramaCast: Tom Hanks, Alexander Black, Sarita ChoudhuryLanguage: RussianStart time: 19:45, 22:00Ticket price: 15-16 Lari

RUSTAVELI CINEMAAddress: 5 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 55 50 00www.kinoafi sha.ge

representing Soviet-era cultural and political repression in Georgia. The exhibition hall is equipped with monitors where visitors can watch documentaries of various historical events.

ART PALACEAddress: 6 Kargareteli Str.Telephone: 295 35 63

May 10- May 17ANDRIS AND MARIA LIEPA’S EXHIBITION

SHALVA AMIRANASHVILI MUSEUM OF ART

Address: 1 Lado Gudiashvili St. Telephone: 2 99 99 09www.museum.ge

May 10-15EXHIBITION OF PAINTERS FROM RUSTAVI

GALLERY

THE NATIONAL GALLERYAddress: 11 Rustaveli Ave.www.museum.ge

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONNiko Pirosmanashvili, David Kakabadze, Lado Gudiashvili and sculptor Iakob Nikoladze

CHUBINASHVILI NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER

Address: 9 Atoneli Str.Telephone: 2 93 15 38

May 5-18TAMAZ KHUTSISHVILI’S PERSONAL EXHIBITION

KOLGA TBILSI PHOTOhttp://www.kolga.ge

May 13HERE TO STAY Works by Fabian WeissCurated by: Inga SchneiderROAD WALLAHDougie WallaceCurator: Tina SchelhornAFGHANISTAN CHRONOTOPIASimon NorfolkCurator: Tina SchelhornCTRL-X. A TOPOGRAPHY OF E-WASTE CHAPTER III: INDIAKai LöffelbeinCurator: Tina SchelhornFIRST PERSONAL IN GEORGIA. Sergo EdisherashviliCurator: Lika MamatsashviliOpenning: 16:30-17:30Venue: Karvasla Museum

ANGUS LEADLEY BROWNNew York, August 2008. My fi rst visit to New YorkERROR IMAGESOpening: 19:00Venue: Rooms Hotel Tbilisi

May 13MARI NAKANIWe Build, We RuinOpening: 19:00Venue: Didi Gallery

MUSIC

MOVEMENT THEATREAddress: 182, Aghmashenebeli Ave., Mushthaid parkTelephone: 599 555 260

May 17, 19JAM SESSIONWITH RESO KIKNADZE QUINTETStart time: 21:00Free entry

May 18TANGO MILONGAStart time: 20:00Tango Lesson: 5 Lari

GEORGIA TODAY MAY 13 - 16, 2016 15CULTURE

GEORGIA TODAY

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The Minister of Culture and Tbilisi Mayor at the opening of the fi rst exhibition of Lado Gudiashvili’s works

BY MAKA LOMADZE

This year Georgia is marking the 120th anniversary of one of the greatest names of local fi ne arts, one of the founders of the Georgian

rich art school, Lado Gudiashvili. A series of exhibitions are planned this com-memorative year, the fi rst of which was opened on May 5 at his namesake exhi-bition hall near Kashueti Church off Rustaveli Avenue.

The initial exposition represents his painting and graphic works completed in the 1940s.

“Throughout the year people will have the chance to visit four exhibitions depict-ing different creative periods of the great painter,” said Mikheil Giorgadze, Min-ister of Culture and Monument Protec-tion at the opening. “It would be no exaggeration to say that Lado Gudiash-vili is one of the founders of the contem-porary Georgian arts. His creative herit-age is our national treasure.”

“The huge heritage that Gudiashvili left us deserves appropriate apprecia-tion and esteem. Therefore, Tbilisi City Hall is actively involved not only in fulfi lling this project but also in ensur-ing that as many Georgians as possible are invited to see these pictures. We should bring our children, too, to get them get acquainted with these works from early age,” said Davit Narmania, Tbilisi Mayor.

Nani Bregvadze, a well-known Geor-gian female singer, said, “I remember how Lado took a picture of me, as a part of a series, wearing clothing of different epochs. He left such a mark on this series that I cannot claim it as my own. I’m happy to be able to say I’ve met a great number of really interesting fi gures in my life, among whom Lado Gudiashvili stands out.”

Buba Kikabidze, a very colorful Geor-gian singer and actor who played in

Enjoy Immortal Painter Lado Gudiashvili during his 120th Birthday Celebration

Giorgi Danelia’s fi lm ‘Don’t Worry’ in which Gudiashvili himself dances most impressively, said, “He was a very quiet and innocent man. I am lucky to be able to say I lived during his lifetime, even getting to speak to him once or twice.”

“Lado Gudiashvili belongs to those persons who have a big infl uence on a society and its spiritual life,” said Zurab Nizharadze, a well-known painter. “He simultaneously belongs to the East and the West, i.e. he is a bearer of a purely Georgian phenomenon. In his creative works a particular system of values is found that corresponds to our history, our present and future. Viva Lado Gudi-ashvili’s immortal art!”

Lado Gudiashvili’s works are a must-see. Especially keeping in mind that some consider it a miracle his works survived to this day. During the commonly known hijacking of an airplane in the 1980s (on which is based Dato Turashvili’s book ‘Jeans Generation’), when a group of Georgian youth tried to escape through the Iron Curtain as a sign of harsh pro-test to the Soviet rules, Gudiashvili’s only grand-daughter, one of the hijack-ers, was pardoned when Lado’s daughter threatened to destroy all the heritage of her talented father. It is thanks to this moment that Georgia got to keep this unique art treasure.

The next exhibition will showcase Gudishvili’s painting and graphic works of the 1950s and will take place from June 22 to October 25. Only graphic works will be on display during the third expo-sition that is planned for November 1 to November 15. The fi nal exhibition, sched-uled for December 1-30, will enable view-ers to see the works of his fi nal creative period.

The fi rst exhibition will last until June 19. Address: Lado Gudiashvili Street 11Opening Times: 11:00 to 18.30 daily except Mondays and offi cial holidaysTicket Price: 5 Gel, 3 Gel for students and pensioners, Free for children under 6

BY EKA KARSAULIDZE

Georgian teenage pianist Sandro Nebieridze won the First Grand Piano Com-petition for young pianists in Moscow on May 5.

Nebieridze shared fi rst place with Alex-ander Malofeev from Russia. Both pia-nists were awarded with a monetary prize of USD 5,000, as well as receiving a hybrid piano Yamaha Avant Grand.

15 artists from Russia, Great Britain, China, Japan, South Korea, Belarus and Georgia attended the competition, how-ever, only seven young pianists made it through to the fi nal stage.

Founder of the Competition, famous Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, said that the Grand Piano Competition is like the famous International Tchaikovsky Com-petition, but for young musicians. “The current young generation of musicians is very special: these children are amaz-ingly talented and extraordinarily gifted. That is why I created this festival. My dream has come true because the level of performances is simply fantastic,” said Matsuev.

15-year-old Nebieridze studied at the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conserv-atory where he attended piano and com-position classes. The talented musician also composed opera and piano music,

Young Pianist Sandro Nebieridze Wins Grand Prix in Moscow

as well as scores for other instruments. At the Grand Piano Competition as his main composition, he performed the piece ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini’ by Russian composer Sergei Rachmani-noff.

Matsuev joined an international jury from Russia, Israel, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden and Korea in struggling to choose a winner and so gave the fi rst prize to two competitors. “These young musi-cians who appeared on stage are already mature artists. They are 100% ready to play grand concerts; each has a great personality; each is phenomenally tal-

ented,” said Matsuev. Nebieridze is a laureate of international

contests including 2009 Musica. Sepash-vili Klavierwettbewerb, 2012 Balys Dvar-ionas International Piano Competition in Vilnius, Lithuania, 2015 Astana Piano Passion competition in Kazakhstan, and many others.

The pianist has toured extensively in Georgia and Europe. In recent years, he has also participated in the Night Ser-enades festival in Batumi and the Mozart@Augsburg festival in Germany. He always tries to include his own compositions in the program.

15-year-old Nebieridze studied at the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatory where he attended piano and composition classes