Giorgi Margvelashvili On the Importance of

“Learning to Dialogue” with Diverse Social Groups

In the first ADAMI Focus online talk about media and racism with ZDF-Correspondent Katrin Eigendorf, Georgia's former President Giorgi Margvelashvili stated that it is crucial to maintain dialogue between different groups, even those that display xenophobic or racist thinking. “This aggression in itself reflects a deep-rooted tragedy or trauma that has forced these people to become so inhuman. Their stories might also be interesting. When we see individuals on both sides, we have the possibility to reconcile,” Margvelashvili observed. He noted that in Georgia, liberals often refuse to talk to certain groups, excluding them from public discourse and pushing them towards social networks and propaganda – but “good guys don't manipulate social media.”

ADAMI Focus is a new format of the ADAMI Media Prize for Cultural Diversity in Eastern Europe, where outstanding journalists talk to public figures about current media topics and diversity.

ADAMI FOCUS Brings Together Outstanding Journalists and Public Figures to Discuss Diversity and Media

The ADAMI Media Prize for Cultural Diversity in Eastern Europe announces a new initiative – ADAMI FOCUS, an exclusive online talk with public figures on media challenges in the Eastern Partnership countries.

Covid-19 has reignited prejudices against ethnic minorities around the world. Assertions of blame for spreading the virus have only served to fuel tensions between groups. At the same time, racially motivated police violence has spurred protest in the US and globally. These events receive worldwide media coverage and raise the question for our six Eastern Partnership countries – how should professional media take on the task of covering cultural diversity and racism?

Katrin Eigendorf, ADAMI Advisory Board speaker and Special Correspondent for ZDF, has covered discrimination and racist violence issues for many years. This ZOOM talk with Giorgi Margvelashvili, former President of Georgia and former rector of the renowned Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), will offer an inside look into the challenges journalists are facing in today’s tense social climate.

Tuesday, 16 June 15.00 (Chisinau, Minsk, Kiev), 16.00 (Tbilisi, Yerevan, Baku)

To receive an invitation to this exclusive ZOOM talk, register using the following link: https://form.jotform.com/RegistrationADAMI/ADAMI-Focus

The deadline for registration is Tuesday, 16 June at 13.00 (CET).

Participants will have a chance to ask questions during the event, which will be held in English.

Giorgi Margvelashvili served as the fourth President of Georgia from 2013 to 2018; he also served twice as rector of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). Margvelashvili is an active commentator on Georgian and international politics and media. In 2015, he was the patron for the first ADAMI Media Prize Award Ceremony in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Katrin Eigendorf is Special Foreign Correspondent for German Public Broadcaster ZDF with a focus on Russia, the South Caucasus and the Middle East. She worked as a correspondent for ZDF in Moscow and has anchored ZDF's auslandsjournal extra.

In addition to the prizes and special mentions to be awarded in the ADAMI Media Prize 2020 competition, applicants can also win fellowships in news production with established Western European Broadcasters. Fellowship winners will have the opportunity to spend four weeks working in the news department of a large Western European Media Organization, with all costs covered.

Who can apply?

• Fellowships are awarded only to ADAMI Media Prize Competition 2020 applicants

• Applicants for all six ADAMI prize categories are eligible to apply for fellowships

• Fellowship applicants must have previous news feature production experience in one of the following languages: English, Russian, French or German.

The fellowships will be given, like the ADAMI prizes, at the ADAMI Gala Award Ceremony on December 10, 2020 in Tbilisi, and will be realized in 2021.

To apply, please fill out the registration form:

https://form.jotform.com/RegistrationADAMI/adami-fellowships-2020

Three Participants in the ADAMI Dialogue TV Series Conference Present Their Works at the East-West Talent Lab of the goEast Festival for Central and Eastern European Film

Although the ADAMI Dialogue TV Series Conference has been postponed until October 2020, ADAMI had the chance to present submissions from Georgia, Belarus and Armenia to participants of the East-West Talent Lab of the goEast Film Festival on Saturday, May 9, 2020.

Otar Shamatava presented the pilot for a new Georgian series T.A.F.U. - a Tbilisi Theatre and Film University project made by students. The series depicts the lives and stories of the students, teachers and the university itself. Shamatava counseled and supported the students while producing the series, which will be aired on Georgia's SILK UNIVERSAL TV.

Cinematographer Egor Efimov presented the pilot of the new Belarusian comedy-drama series, 40m2. He gave the audience some insights on the story line: A young married couple in Minsk is struggling with the renovation of their small flat, which has resembled a construction site for a few years already. The BELSAT TV series portrays the growing housing problem in Minsk and explores gender roles and the challenges of families and marriage. The process of renovation is here a metaphor for the inner life of the characters as well as for society.

Ophelia Tovmasyan, executive producer of the successful Armenian series Paper Dream, gave insight into the historical background for the series, the earthquake that hit Armenia in 1988 and led to poverty and homelessness. Interestingly, the generation that grew up amidst this poverty produced several "masterminds", like the series protagonist, a young boy who makes his way to Silicon Valley. The SHANT TV-produced series has been very popular in Armenia and will soon be aired outside Armenia as well.

Submit your work to win an ADAMI prize, special mention or fellowship! DEADLINE: 20 July 2020 6 Prize Categories: - ADAMI Media Prize for Entertainment (Fict...

We are excited to launch the competition for the 2020 ADAMI Media Prize for Cultural Diversity in Eastern Europe

The competition is open to broadcasters, production companies, independent journalists, filmmakers, producers and other audiovisual media professionals in the six EU Eastern Partnership Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The prize rewards outstanding TV, film and online programmes dealing with topics of migration, integration and ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. This is a unique opportunity for media professionals to showcase their audiovisual work and connect with an international network of broadcasters. The winner in each prize category will receive a cash award. In addition, participants with prior journalism experience are eligible to apply for an ADAMI Fellowship with a renowned Western European broadcaster.

Nominees will be invited to the ADAMI Award Ceremony on December 10th, 2020 in Tbilisi, Georgia. 

The call for applications opens on May 5th, 2020. 

The deadline for applications is July 15, 2020. 

The ADAMI Media Prize will be awarded in six prize categories: 

• ADAMI Media Prize for Entertainment (fiction)

• ADAMI Media Prize for Information (non-fiction)

• ADAMI Media Prize for News & Short Non-Fiction

• Young ADAMI Media Prize

• ADAMI Online Prize for Web pages

• ADAMI Online Prize for Web videos 

Please note: The ADAMI Media Prize competition is open for productions that aired or were published after October 1nd, 2018. 

We eagerly await your submissions!

For more information, please visit https://www.adamimediaprize.eu/competition-2020

Press Releases: AR / AZ / BY/ DE / EN / GEO / ROM / RU / UA

Three TV Series selected for goEast’s Online Edition

This year's ADAMI Dialogue conference for TV and online-series will be postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic throughout Europe. 

The conference, which serves as a networking platform for broadcasters and producers from EU and Eastern Partnership countries is being rescheduled to October 27-28th, 2020., right before the Seriencamp conference in Munich to enable the participants to also attend this high profile networking event of international broadcasters and series producers.

ADAMI Dialogue had been planned to take place at ZDF (Mainz) during the goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden in the beginning of May. Though the conference itself is being postponed, ADAMI is happy to announce that three TV series from the Eastern Partnership countries will be presented online to participants of the festival‘s East-West Talent Lab, a workshop for young filmmakers. 

On May 9, 2020, the following series will be presented during a live video chat, followed by a virtual Q&A: The pilot of the new series T.A.F.U. by Georgia’s SILK UNIVERSAL TV offers a glimpse of the characters and personal stories in Tbilisi’s Theatre and Film University. The new Belarusian series 40 m2 by BELSAT TV is the story of a married couple in Minsk, struggling with everyday problems while renovating their flat. Armenia’s SHANT TV‘s successful series Paper Dream depicts the life of a boy who grows up in poverty after the 1988 earthquake and makes his way to Silicon Valley. 

We will soon contact all ADAMI Dialogue-TV Series applicants regarding further plans for the conference!