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The News in Brief

Tuesday, July 22
Renowned Georgian film director wins merit award

Internationally renowned Georgian film director Zaza Urushadze has been named by the Ministry of Culture as the recipient of the Award of Merit for his film Mandarinebi (Tangerines).

The film has won several international film awards since it was released, including prizes at the Warsaw International Film Festival 2013, the Fajr International Film Festival and the Bari International Film Festival.

The film was a Georgian-Estonian co-production and supported by the Georgian Ministry of Culture, the National Film Centre, European Cinema Support Centre of European Council Eurimage, as well as the Estonian Cinema Fund.

The film’s plot takes place against the backdrop of the war in Georgia's breakaway region Abkhazia and focused on an Estonian man who decided to live in Abkhazia after the war and the situation he finds himself in, alongside two wounded Georgian and Chechen soldiers who appear at the home of the Estonian hero.

Since its release, the film has been recognized abroad and won several prizes. At the Warsaw International Film Festival 2013, Mandarinebi (Tangerines) was awarded the Best Directing and Audience Award for Best Feature Film.

At the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg 2013, Mandarinebi (Tangerines) won a special prize, the Audience Prize for Best Feature Film and the Cinema Owners Prize and at the Fajr International Film Festival, the film was acknowledged as the best film with the best script writing.

At the Bari International Film Festival, the film was acknowledged as one of the best films of 2014, and at the International Film Festival in Tallinn, Mandarinebi (Tangerines) was named the Best Estonian Film and the International Cinema Club prize.

In 2013 the film was also awarded the Estonian Film Critics’ Awards for the Best Film and Estonian State Awards for outstanding contribution to the promotion of Estonia. Estonian Ministry of Culture also named Mandarinebi (Tangerines) as the best film.
(agenda.ge)



Some newspapers publish photos of Kitsmarishvili`s death place

Some Georgian newspapers have published the photos taken in the car of Erosi Kitsmarishvili, politician and founder of Rustavi2 television. The photos were taken after his death, which is currently qualified as the suicide. No source that provided photographs from the place of the tragedy has been named by the editors but they look like official photos taken by the law enforcers during the inspection of the death place. The prosecutor`s office has not made definitions about who released these photos and whether they are the ones taken by the detectives. It is expected that the official report of the examination of the body will be ready in a couple of days.

Erosi Kitsmarishvili was found with killed with one bullet in his head in the car parked in his own garage last week.
(Rustavi 2)



Georgia’s achieved progress should not be recognized only in statements made by NATO

Georgia’s achieved progress should not be recognized only in statements made by NATO; Georgia’s integration with NATO should insure more security and stability of the country, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said in an interview with Adjara TV on Friday.

“Georgia is an important country for NATO, not only because we share common values and are building Western-style nation, but also due to our key geopolitical role in the region. The regional stabilization is important for NATO’s peaceful and secure development. They are also interested in those global transport and energy projects in which we are going to involve”, Margvelashvili said, adding that “Georgia expects real, effective steps from NATO”.

President Margvelashvili spoke about the importance of the Association Agreement signed with the EU. According him, it does not hinder Georgia to strengthen its trade relations with Russia.
(Frontnews)



Some municipal officials summoned for investigation by IS

Some municipal officials have been summoned for interrogation at the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. Two governors of Tbilisi districts, city hall`s officials and Tbilisi City Assembly MP are already at the investigation body, however, the case about which they will have to answer the questions of detectives have not been reported.
(Rustavi 2)



Georgian man jailed by de-facto South Ossetian court for spying

A Georgian citizen is facing more than a decade in jail after being convicted by a court in Georgia's breakaway region South Ossetia.

According to the South Ossetian Committee for State Security (KGB), Guram Gegelashvili, was sentenced to 10 years and two months in jail by the local court.

The court found Gegelashvili, 57, guilty of espionage and illegal weapon possession.

In particular, the KGB said Gegelashvili had provided Georgia's Secret Service with "intelligence" information.

Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs has not released any official information or statement regarding the case yet.
(agenda.ge)