October 2016: ADAMI Media Prize at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Jury sessions begin in Batumi

Press Release

October 24, 2016

Some exciting things happening with the ADAMI Media Prize this October: The ADAMI Media Prize for Cultural Diversity in Eastern Europe presented during a side event of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France, on the 11th of October.

The ADAMI Media Prize had the support of speakers Mr. Frank Schwabe, who is the Vice-Chair of the German Delegation to the Council of Europe, Dr. Thomas Feist, Member of the German delegation to the Council of Europe, and Ms. Gülsün Bilgehan, Chairperson of the PACE Sub-Committee on Media and Information Society. The speakers extended their support to initiatives that encourage a diverse and free media in the Eastern Europe region. The filmmakers who were the recipients of the 2015 ADAMI Media Prize were invited to Strasbourg to present their films at PACE, as well as for the general public at the historic Cinema Odyssée. The delegation of filmmakers also visited the headquarters of French-German culture channel Arte. The ADAMI Media Prize is working together with Arte to offer a one-month fellowship at the TV broadcaster to an exceptional applicant in the 2016 competition.

The  next step are the jury sessions that will judge the 2016 ADAMI Media Prize competition, which are from October 24-28, and are being hosted by the city of Batumi (Georgia). The jury sessions are have the sponsorship of Hilton Batumi. There are two international juries comprised of representatives of TV channels, journalists, and public figures from Europe and the EU Eastern Partnership countries. The nominees for the 2016 ADAMI Media Prize will be announced on Ajara TV on October 28; the winners will be revealed at an awards gala in Kiev on November 24.

Batumi municipality will hold an evening reception for the two juries, local journalists, and public figures in Georgia, with an address by the Mayor of Batumi, Mr. Giorgi Ermakov, and by the Chairman of the Government of Ajara, Mr. Zurab Pataradze. 

(Photos above: The ADAMI delegation (including filmmakers who received the 2015 award) visits Arte and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Thank you to all those who applied. Please check here or on our Facebook for further news about nominees and the great events we have planned.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media are patrons of the ADAMI 2016 awards gala

Press Release

September 30, 2016

The ADAMI Media Prize is proud to announce that the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, Ms. Dunja Mijatović, are the patrons of the 2016 awards gala of the ADAMI Media Prize for Cultural Diversity in Eastern Europe. The prize applies to the six EU Eastern Partnership countries -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine -- and awards outstanding television, film, and online programmes that promote themes of integration, migration, and ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity. The awards gala will be held in Kiev on November 24th.

In cooperation with the Council of Europe, the director of the ADAMI Media Prize will present the ADAMI project to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in Strasbourg, France, on October 11th, 2016. Three filmmakers from the South Caucasus who won the top prizes in the 2015 competition will also travel to Strasbourg, and will screen their films before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Council of Europe works to guarantee human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe; the Secretary General of the Council of Europe is responsible for the strategic management of the organization. The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in the OSCE participating States, provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom, and helps participating States abide by their commitments to freedom of expression and free media. “As a prize that seeks to promote peaceful co-existence between peoples in Eastern Europe through media, we are thrilled to have the patronage of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and believe their auspices will boost larger interest in topics of cultural diversity and integration,” said Mr. Stefan Tolz, programme director of the ADAMI Media Prize.

Television broadcasters, producers, journalists, and young filmmakers of the six participating countries can apply for the competition and send in their films, videos, and online content connected to integration and cultural diversity until October 10th, 2016. An international jury will view and evaluate all entries. Producers and directors/journalists that are nominated in one of the six ADAMI categories are invited to the gala award ceremony in Kiev, where they will have the opportunity to network with broadcaster representatives and media professionals from across Europe.

About the Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is the continent's leading human rights organisation. It includes 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union. The Council of Europe promotes human rights through international conventions, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and the Convention on Cybercrime. It monitors member states' progress in these areas and makes recommendations through independent expert monitoring bodies. For additional information, visit: www.coe.int.

About the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more atwww.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and at www.facebook.com/osce.rfom.

Focus Week: TV Categories

Mark your calendars: There’s are 3 weeks left until the 2016 competition closes!

TV stations and TV production companies from the EU Eastern Partnership countries can apply for the ADAMI Media Prize. There are categories for Information (non-fiction), Entertainment (fiction), and News and Short non-Fiction.

The 2015 winner for Information was the documentary film Niko’s Way, by director Giorgi Tskhvediani which aired on the Georgian Public Broadcaster.

The film follows the life of a young teacher, Niko, who is teaching Georgian in a small ethnic Armenian village in the Javakheti region of Georgia. Niko is faced with a dilemma: Should he return to his hometown to his pregnant wife and university studied? Or should he stay in the village to teach his young students and help build their future?

Watch the trailer for Niko's Way here.

STAR POWER

Ukrainian TV presenter Yuri Makarov (ADAMI jury 2015) expressed his support for the ADAMI initiative, explaining the central role media plays in promoting tolerance among society.

Focus Week: Young ADAMI

The Young ADAMI category is open to students, filmmakers, and journalists up to age 28 from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. For the 2016 competition, we are looking for films and TV video formats that cover themes of integration, migration, and diversity. If your film appeared on TV, at select film festivals in the region, or was part of a film or journalism school thesis, it can be eligible for the prize.

The 2015 winning film for Young ADAMI, How to Cross (from Jiliz to Jiliz), follows a small girl Lousine in the village of Jiliz. She dreams of visiting her relatives who live on the other side of the stream – which also divides the village between Georgia and Armenia. Although only a kilometer separates them, the border forces the families to travel 100km to reach each other. Lousine and the villagers find themselves facing the questions: What is a border? Why do we need a border?

Watch the trailer here.

How to Cross screened at the 2015 CinéDoc Tbilisi International Documentary Film Festival.

The 2015 winners of the Young ADAMI Media Prize, filmmakers Marine Kocharyan and Sona Kocharyan, offered a few words to future applicants: “Young people need appreciation of their work. The ADAMI Media Prize creates a space for young people who are striving for diversity to use their talent. It is very motivating and encouraging! We recommend all young people to apply for the Young ADAMI prize.”
 
Closing date for applications for Young ADAMI is October 10, 2016. Contact us with your questions!

Focus Week: Online Categories

The ADAMI Media Prize has two categories awarding online materials. We are looking to award the best websites and the best videos online that show themes of integration, migration, and cultural diversity in the region.

The 2015 ADAMI Media Prize winner for Online Video, 30 Families of Griz, by Oktay Namazov, takes you into the mountains of Azerbaijan, and explores how the isolated village of Griz has managed to maintain it's unique language and culture.

You can watch the trailer for the video here.

The 2015 winner for Web Pages, www.chai-khana.org, is a cross-border web platform sharing stories from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The site's monthly editions have covered themes ranging from environmentalism, entrepreneurship, and youth in the South Caucasus.

ADAMI caught up with filmmaker Oktay Namazov on the set of his latest film in Sheki, Azerbaijan. "This is a really good opportunity for all young filmmakers. To shoot, to make their own films, to tell their own stories," he said.