Documentary filmmaker and co-founder of DOCA Georgia, Salomé Jashi, talks about her creative journey, filmmaking in Georgia, and her upcoming role as a tutor at the 2nd Ex Oriente Features session in Romania. The conversation was led by film critic and PhD candidate Botagoz Koilybayeva.
I had the chance to hear Salomé Jashi speak earlier this year at the Berlinale, following the screening of Inner Blooming Springs by Tiku Kobiashvili. In Kobiashvili’s documentary, she captures the Tbilisi protests led by young people like herself and her friends. After the screening, Salomé joined a panel discussion alongside historian Zaal Andronikashvili, offering her insights into the role of documentary filmmaking in politically fraught environments like Georgia.
Ahead of the upcoming Ex Oriente workshop, taking place in October during the Astra Film Festival, we spoke with Salomé about the current civil protests in Georgia, her work with DOCA, and her approach to mentoring emerging filmmakers.
Recently, I opened Al Jazeera to get some updates on what’s happening in Georgia, and the top three headlines were all about jailed opposition figures and the ongoing crackdown on protests. This may not be the easiest topic to start with, but perhaps you could tell me more about what’s going on in Georgia at the moment
We are in a deep crisis here. We have dozens of political prisoners. Most opposition leaders are in jail, and one of them has left the country. The bank accounts of several leading non-governmental organisations working on social justice, women’s rights, and democracy have been frozen, effectively forcing them to cease operations. Several new laws have made the work of civil society extremely difficult - almost impossible – including in the fields of art and culture. One of these laws obliges international grants to be approved by the Georgian government. Consequently, there was a case when one of the media organisations was blocked from a grant. Even if a grant is approved by the government, this would require an organization to register as a “foreign agent,” being exposed to bureaucratic scrutiny. There are layers of reporting requirements – it opens a kind of Pandora’s box. As a result, very few organizations are willing to go through the process, and receiving international grants, international funding has become virtually impossible.
Can we speak about the protests?
The demonstrations have been taking place every night since November 28th. Each night, people block the main avenue, and there are larger protest marches every once in a while. The government uses different means to put pressure on protesters. For example, as it happened recently, protesters were assaulted by an organized mob openly affiliated with the ruling Georgian Dream party. Other tactics include issuing heavy fines for blocking the road during demonstrations. Occasionally, people are arrested for disobedience or other minor infractions, which are then escalated into larger legal cases.
As I understand it, the protests started in November last year, 2024?
Yes, the biggest protest, which also turned violent – and not just slightly; the special forces and police were beating people – started on November 28th. But we had a major wave of protests earlier in the spring as well, when the so-called Russian law (the Foreign Agents Law) came into force. The first wave of protests started between April and June 2024, when the government introduced it. Then we had elections, which were rigged. Then, the prime minister announced that Georgia would halt the EU accession process. That was a turning point: the government essentially turned its back on Europe and European values, democratic principles, human rights, equality, and justice. By doing so, it signalled its clear course toward Russia – even if not openly articulated. These protests are a direct response to that decision and to the policy of the Georgian Dream Party, led by Bidzina Ivanishvili.
There is a kind of polarization happening in Georgia, right?
Right, polarization is a huge issue here, and I believe it is intentional, even forced. The government is very effective in using internet trolls and bots – just like many other authoritarian regimes. There is a lot of hate speech that you see on social media, and when you check the profiles behind it, they are not real people.
The broadcast media is also polarized. On one side, you have government propaganda, and on the other, opposition TV channels. If we speak about people in general, according to the recent survey I trust, support for the current government is around 30 percent or so. So in fact they do not have popular support. They just have power
Coming from Kazakhstan, this sounds painfully familiar. The National Film Center – which used to be the only body providing funding for documentary production and similar projects – has now been subsumed by the government apparatus. But then I heard about your organization, DOCA, and also the Georgian Film Institute. How do you try to resist this problem?
I wouldn’t say we try to resist it – we try to work around it. We launched DOCA three years ago because we realized that we had lost the Georgian National Film Center. GNFC had, for years, been the only financial supporter for Georgian film. The funding was limited, but it was more or less fair and accessible. It also did good work internationally, helping Georgian filmmakers gain exposure abroad.
The Film Center significantly contributed to what became a kind of new wave of Georgian cinema as we had a big gap in filmmaking and production during the 1990s. What happened three years ago was that the Film Center became politicized, and political appointees took over – people whose aim was not to support independent filmmaking, but rather to control who gets financed, and what content goes through. So, that's when we thought that we needed to do something, we needed to act.
Several organizations emerged from that crisis. One of them was DOCA – Documentary Association Georgia – which is a membership-based organization, with over 70 members. Another is the Georgian Film Institute, which has a wider scope and operates mostly internationally. It's more of an advocacy organization than an activity-based one.
And then there is a movement called Georgian Cinemas Under Threat, which is not a formal organization, but rather a collective that brought many of the film professionals together and decided to boycott the Film Center in response to these political changes. Additionally, a Filmmaker’s Union was created to advocate for the labor rights of film workers.
And what are your core activities at DOCA?
First, we run a film club every Monday to bring documentaries to audiences, followed by discussions. The idea is to create a kind of support system around documentary film. We run talks – panel discussions, presentations – and recently, we started giving workshops as well.
We try to support production of Georgian films as well as the mobility for Georgian filmmakers to international platforms. We also do research, like the study we did on Georgian documentaries from the 1990s to 2000s. We host networking events, including at Georgian film festivals. And we engage in international advocacy, being present at international festivals, meeting and talking to film professionals, etc.
How many people show up at the film club?
We run the film club at a local commercial cinema. They kindly share an 80-seat theater with us, and the hall is usually pretty full – sometimes totally packed. For example, during recent screenings of Georgian films in May-July, the hall was completely sold out, plus some audience members were sitting on the stairs.
If we are screening a regular international film, the turnout is relatively lower. Somehow, people are more drawn to Georgian films. But still, DOCA Film Club attracts quite an audience. It’s wonderful, especially considering that there is no non-commercial cinema in Tbilisi that would screen independent films, especially documentaries
In countries where democratic institutions are so fragile, cinema becomes a tool of resistance. Do you think about that when making documentaries?
Right now, the situation in Georgia is pretty gloomy. And it is not easy to work creatively in these times. Making documentaries becomes difficult – not just because of funding or access, but because the situation is so intense, it pushes filmmakers toward certain, so-called relevant topics.
You mentioned polarization earlier. That’s exactly what we’re facing. Right now, it’s very binary – either you’re on one side or the other. It’s like when someone says, “I'm neither for Palestine nor for Israel,” and by doing so, they’re essentially endorsing Israel’s aggression – or at least that’s how I see it. Of course, that’s a dramatic example, but it’s similar here. If you don’t speak out, if you’re not critical of what the government is doing, then your silence becomes a form of endorsement. And the government has become authoritarian – there’s no denying that.
Was your film, Taming the Garden, a kind of catalyst for the increase in censorship?
I wouldn’t say that just one film pushed the government to take over not only the Film Center but also all cultural institutions and say, “We will never allow anything like this to happen again.” I really can’t say that this one film caused all of that. The inclination of Bidzina Ivanishvili and his government to turn away from democracy – or rather, to seize power – was already there. State capture is the term. That urge to capture the state existed long before the film.
What you see in Taming the Garden is a kind of allegory for what we’re witnessing now. It’s about the capture of nature and its subjugation to one man’s whims. And today, we’re seeing a similar kind of capture – just not of trees, but of institutions, power, the entire system.
This spring, for the first time, I truly felt like one of those trees. I worked on that film for four years, and now it’s been four years since it was released. And for the first time, I had this feeling – of being uprooted by some force, taken from the place I’m supposed to be rooted in, and dragged somewhere else against my will.
One of your quotes I’ve seen from an earlier interview, is that you live in Georgia because it makes you angry – but it also inspires you. Is that still true?
Yes, I used to say that I liked living here because it made me angry. And what makes you angry pushes you to act. I still feel that way – though not just about Georgia. Many things, in many places, make me angry. And that emotion matters. But what’s changed is that I’ve also developed a sense of belonging, something I didn’t really have before. And I think that’s a beautiful feeling – when you know you’re shaping your environment, and it’s shaping you. It’s not just about your house or your family; it’s about society, politics, and the economy, being part of this living organism that we call a country.
Could you share your history with the Ex Oriente program?
Well, Ex Oriente was actually my very first long workshop that I attended back in 2009. It was incredibly important for me, both in my career and in developing my mid-length film Bakhmaro. It helped me finish the project, find a co-producer, and bring the film out into the world. More than that, it helped me understand how the film industry works. Before that, I had studied journalism and worked as a reporter. Then I studied film at Royal Holloway, University of London – at the documentary master’s program there.
But when I came back to Georgia and co-founded a company with my friend to start making films, we realized we didn’t really know the industry side of things. Making a film is one thing – but producing it, funding it, navigating the international scene – that's a whole different skill set. Ex Oriente was essential for both filmmakers and producers. It gave us knowledge, encouragement, feedback, and direction. And it built an amazing network of fellow filmmakers. It really was a crucial first step for me.
What is your approach going to be as a tutor in the workshop?
We’ll be working on developing the creative part of the films – thinking about form, style, story, structure, and the different layers of the film ideas. That’s my favorite part of workshops like this – helping shape the artistic vision. I will also give a talk about my work and experience, with a particular focus on how to translate an artistic vision into film language.
Do you see tutoring emerging filmmakers as an extension of your overall practice?
Yes, definitely. I do three things in my life, more or less. One is filmmaking – it comes in waves, sometimes more intense, sometimes less. The second is working for the community – through DOCA - Documentary Association Georgia. And the third is working internationally – participating in workshops like this, consulting, mentoring, and helping emerging (and sometimes not-so-emerging) filmmakers shape or present their projects. And I suppose there’s a fourth thing, too. I do some public talks engaging with the broader conversation around film and society.
Photo 1: Maroussia DUBREUIL, Photo 2: filmkommentaren.dk, Photo 3: Taming the Garden still