2017 in Review - THE ADAMI MEDIA PRIZE
In 2017 The ADAMI Media Prize continued to promote expanded media coverage on cultural diversity issues in the EaP countries. During the year, ADAMI took part in a number of activities aimed at strengthening professional networks between European broadcasters with their counterparts from EaP countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
ADAMI FELLOWSHIP / ARTE PRIZE
In the spring of 2017 ADAMI sent Georgian journalist Marita Tevzadze, a 2016 ADAMI Media Prize nominee, to Strasbourg, France to complete the first ADAMI fellowship/Arte Prize. The Arte Prize is a one-month, funded journalism fellowship that provides the awardee with the unique opportunity to work in Strasbourg with the Arte Journal team. During her month long fellowship, Marita reported on the French presidential elections for Arte.
DW GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM
ADAMI participated in the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum “Identity and Diversity” in Bonn, Germany, June 19-21 2017. ADAMI was an official partner of the three-day event, and two ADAMI Media Prize winners had the opportunity to present their award-winning websites and online videos to the international audience. The Global Media Forum provided an important platform for ADAMI prize winners to share their work with members of the media in other countries.
ADAMI AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
On 10 October 2017, ADAMI presented its work at an official side-event of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg, France. This was the second time that ADAMI was invited to present at this event, which brings together parliamentarians from across Europe to discuss critical issues affecting the region. The side-event offered an exciting opportunity to connect filmmakers from EaP countries directly with decision-makers.
Three ADAMI prize-winning projects were screened at the Council of Europe event; awardees themselves were also on hand to discuss their works with the MPs and guests in attendance. While in Strasbourg, the ADAMI delegation also paid a visit the Arte TV headquarters.
ADAMI DIALOGUE FORA 2017
In 2017 ADAMI launched The ADAMI Dialogue Fora. The initiative offers a number of new opportunities for media professionals to present their projects in various stages of development and share ideas with their colleagues from Eastern Partnership countries on how to visualize sensitive cultural diversity issues.
The first ADAMI Dialogue workshop forum took place October 27-28, 2017 in Baku (Azerbaijan). The workshop focused on new media genres, including video blogging and other online media. Participants learned about different facets of YouTube and other social media platforms from Gokhan Ekremolgu (on-site consultant, YouTube/Google San Francisco) and Dominique Willieme (Head of Digital Publishing, Arte), as well as the real-life experience of vlogger Magdalena Haase (YouTube vlog considercologne). In cooperation with the Yarat Contemporary Art Space, we held an open public lecture with Dominique Willieme demonstrating TV companies’ innovative approaches in online media.
The ADAMI Dialogue seminar in Yerevan (Armenia) on November 4-5 focused on TV and film professionals. Participants pitched and received feedback on in-development films related to cultural diversity to the panel of mentor-experts, including documentary filmmakers Andrzej Klamt (Germany), Irene Langemann (Germany), Vitaly Mansky (Russia/Latvia), journalist Vladimir Vasak (Arte, France), Satik Seyranan (editor-in-chief 168 Hours, Armenia), and scriptwriter Kote Jandieri (Georgian Public Broadcaster, Georgia).
Within the framework of the seminar there was a public screening of the 2016 film RODNYE (CLOSE RELATIONS), by director Vitaly Mansky. Criss-crossing Ukraine and Russia in the years after the revolution, the director shows how the war and new borders in Ukraine has artificially divided families.
At the seminar closing, the panel of experts nominated three exceptional projects from Armenia, Moldova, and Ukraine for an ADAMI travel grant to take part in two international pitching events: When East Meets West festival in Trieste, Italy (January 2018), and East Doc Forum in Prague, Czech Republic (March 2018).
ART EXHIBITION AT THE ADAMI TBILISI OFFICE
In December, 2017 ADAMI opened the exhibition ‘Being Human’ by artist Maka Batiashvili, a series of ink-on-paper drawings which show the richness of being human. The exhibition is being hosted in the ADAMI office in Tbilisi.
NEXT YEAR
The Call for Applications for the 2018 ADAMI Media Prize competition will launch in February 2018, with closing dates in July and October. The 2018 award ceremony for the prizes will be held in Chisinau, Moldova. More information on how to apply will be available on our website at www.adamimediaprize.eu