Last week I travelled to Tbilisi to teach a workshop on Storytelling Through Sound. The workshop was sponsored by the EU funded Synchromesh initiative, which brings emerging radio drama producers around Europe to learn from one another and grow through mentorship. The group were a talented mixture of writers and creators with backgrounds in theatre and film. I had the chance to reconnect with writer / director / producer Jonathan Farrelly who I met many years ago in Exchange Dublin when he was one half of the improv troupe ‘Princes of Lagos’.

It was an incredible opportunity to visit Georgia, a country in the grips of post electoral turmoil. I made it down to the protests on two nights, and had the tiniest taste of what Georgians are forced to stomach. A parliament turned to a fortress, a militarised police force waiting for the early hours of the morning to attack with tear gas and rubber bullets. It was frightening, but the bravery and audacity of the Georgian protestors was also striking. The contrast with my own coddled visit and the political sleepwalk of Ireland was impossible to ignore. I shot some footage and wrote a few words to try to get across the feeling on the ground, and the necessity of paying attention to this vital struggle against tyranny at the bleeding edge of Europe.

Footage shot 1st December 2024.

Words and images
Gareth Stack

Street audio
Sandro Tugushi

Music
Vaqo – Coda Kurdgelq Dogur

Additional Footage
Jonathon Farlley
Jenny Gherpelli Loba

With thanks to
The Synchromesh EU Project

Special thanks
Vakhtang Kantaria

Appropriated footage

DW, RFE, BBC.

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