Zeg 2023
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We have partnered up with the team of historians at SovLab, an organization studying Georgia’s Soviet totalitarian past to offer ZEG festival participants an unforgettable tour through the key moments of the country’s 20th-century history. It’s the history that Vladimir Putin doesn’t want you to learn: in 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs designated SovLab as Georgia’s #1 organization “faking history and spreading disinformation.” Join historian Irakli Khvadagiani and former MP Giorgi Kandelaki on this tour of the past that still haunts the present.
In collaboration with SovLab
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
We have partnered up with Meet Me Here Tbilisi for a tour which explores Georgia's singular food culture. A deep dive into the Dezerter's Bazaar, Tbilisi's oldest farmer's market, will be followed by a glorious lunch and an exclusive tasting of natural wines at a nearby wine bar. Led by food writer Paul Rimple, this is the perfect introduction to Georgia's incredible food culture
In collaboration with Meet Me Here Tbilisi
Spaces are limited, an additional fee of USD 90 per person applies. Sign up here.
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*Registration will be open everyday from 10:00 at the main stage
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The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) will be joining ZEG to conduct a research roundtable with a dual (and intersecting) focus on both their experiences of countering and reporting on disinformation in the context of conflict and Russian info warfare, and their exposure to online violence (incorporating attacks fuelled by disinfo).
Sign up only. Space is limited.
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Erica Hellerstein, award-winning senior reporter with Coda Story and a recovering creative writing major, unpacks the agonizing art of narrative journalism. This workshop will explore what makes great longform nonfiction writing work. You’ll dissect the classics, study storytelling technique and structure, and put what you’ve learned to the test through a few hands-on activities. If time permits, you may also have the chance to workshop participants’ work. Expect hot storytelling tips, reading lists, and free-flowing conversation about the creative process.
Space is limited. Sign up here.
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How artificial intelligence is challenging journalism and what we can do about it.
Aseel Mansour in conversation with Aman Sethi.
In partnership with Al Jazeera
This panel discussion explores how the stories we tell can trap us and threaten our future, diving into the role literature and ethics can play in this context. Georgia is a salient example in this regard, with writers playing a major role in raising national consciousness about the country’s painful history of deadly purges and ongoing struggle for independence.
Hans Gutbrod, Natasha Lomouri and Andrey Babitsky in conversation with Ilan Greenberg.
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Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine have pushed others, including Georgia, to reexamine their own fraught history with Moscow and reassess their own buried trauma.
Nastya Horpinchenko, Giga Bedineishvili, and Peter Pomerantsev (online) in conversation with Natalia Antelava.
Why are political cartoons such a powerful force, able to aggravate those in power, inspire those who want positive change, and help us all to understand the world we live in? And what are the challenges for a profession that may well be an authentic journalistic genre? Let's talk about it, using many excellent editorial cartoons. In this highly visual panel, Emanuele Del Rosso, editorial cartoonist and director of the European Cartoon Award, and Gian-Paolo Accardo, editor-in-chief of Voxeurop, will be your Virgils in a Dantesque journey through the world of editorial cartoons (not as hellish as the Divine Comedy, but possibly as purgatorial).
Emanuele Del Rosso in conversation with Gian-Paolo Accardo.
Paul Caruana Galizia became a journalist after his mother was assassinated in Malta. In this in-conversation session, he talks about the shocking murder of his muckraking mother, a quest for justice that has reverberated across the world, and his upcoming book, described by Anne Applebaum as the “essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of democracy”.
Paul Caruana Galizia in conversation with literary agent Patrick Walsh.
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Businessmen like Fady Asly are rare. It takes a certain nerve to distribute bananas from the Bekaa Valley in 1980s Lebanon, and the same nerve to export fresh produce to Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the 1990s. But it’s no surprise that of all the cities in the region, Fady made Tbilisi home. Back in 1998, armed bodyguards were an office norm and in his book, “Life with Scorpions”, Fady outlines in extraordinary detail what it took him to survive in Georgia.
Fady Asly in conversation with fellow businesswoman and founder of Jay Warehouse, Coco Ferguson.
Explore how AI may leave us with two possible scenarios: “the superfluous human being”, where AI replaces human intelligence, or “citizen cyborg”, where humans harness AI to create superintelligence (augmented intelligence). But is there another option? Join this transformative critical thinking workshop with the Macat founder Salah Khalil.
Spaces are limited. It’s first come, first serve.
Journalismfund Europe is partnering up with ZEG for a networking event for journalists and media professionals. Rafael Ramesa will discuss the various grants that this organization offers and tips on how to apply for funding. Journalismfund grantees, Ludovica Jona and Lois Kapila, will present their investigations developed with the financial support of Journalismfund Europe.
Ludovica Jona and Lois Kapila in conversation with Rafael Ramesa.
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What’s shaping our world and where are we headed?
Armando Iannucci, Christopher Wylie and Sevgil Musaieva in conversation with Coda Story’s Natalia Antelava.
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Discover Georgia’s extraordinary classical musical tradition with Giorgi Gigashvili, one of Georgia’s most celebrated young pianists, who will be in conversation with journalist and pianist Nadia Beard. Followed by a performance.
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We have partnered up with the team of historians at SovLab, an organization studying Georgia’s Soviet totalitarian past to offer ZEG festival participants an unforgettable tour through the key moments of the country’s 20th century history. It’s the history that Vladimir Putin doesn’t want you to learn: in 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs designated SovLab as Georgia’s #1 organization “faking history and spreading disinformation.” Join historian Irakli Khvadagiani and former MP Giorgi Kandelaki on this tour of the past that still haunts the present.
In collaboration with SovLab
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
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From Tbilisi to Manila, attacks on journalists are not just challenging the media. They are changing the very societies that we live in. Is it too late to turn the tide?
Maria Ressa (online), Lucy Westcott and Carole Cadwalladr in conversation with Julie Posetti.
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Podcast producer and creator Nick Laparra on ways death can help us all live a better life.
Nagorno Karabakh, Afghanistan, Syria. There is no shortage of wars around the world, but very little space for them in the news cycle as the Ukraine war continues to dominate the headlines. How does that affect other conflicts?
Maria Titizian, Nerses Kopalyan and Shafi Karimi in conversation with Andrew North.
Join the award-winning Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak for a Q&A session where he'll offer advice on how you can take your photography project to the next level. This is an open invitation to all photographers, both amateur and professional. Don't miss this opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and gain valuable insights for your photography journey.
Space is limited. Sign up here.
Sisterhood is Kyrgyzstan’s first TikTok show that's using the app to empower women. In this conversation, the creators of Sisterhood discuss the issues they face and how the app is surprisingly effective at helping them overcome them.
Aliia Suranova, Elena Nechaeva, and Algerim Berdibaeva in conversation with Frankie Vetch
In partnership with RFE/RL
Get coaching and feedback on your creative project from the award-winning producer and creative executive, Adam Pincus.
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
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Carole Cadwalladr is a journalist the rich and powerful love to hate. And take to court. Her viral Ted Talk (4.5 million views and counting) cannot be accessed in England and Wales, and her life has been taken over by libel cases. In this conversation, Carole discusses the personal and professional cost of her journalism, what keeps her going and why the debate about privacy is really all about power.
Carole Cadwalladr in conversation with Julie Posetti.
Wars and the spread of authoritarianism are making exile the new normal the world over. But how does the experience of exile shape the story that we tell the world about ourselves? In this panel, co-hosted by NEMO Network, Afghan and Belarusian journalists and activists compare their experiences.
Shafi Karimi, Eugeniy Kazartsev and Cinthia Julissa in conversation with Alice Mueller.
Anna Myroniuk is a co-founder of the Kyiv Independent and the current head of the newspaper’s investigations department. In her talk followed by a Q&A, she will tell the extraordinary story of the Kyiv Independent and how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine challenged and changed the way Ukrainian journalists operate.
Anna Myroniuk in conversation with Amanda Coakley.
In partnership with USAID Media Program
What really went on in the power corridors of Minsk in the summer of 2020? The podcast series, Lukashenka’s Lackeys, dives deep into the backstory of the tumultuous events that changed Belarus’ history. This panel is a unique opportunity to hear directly from the series’ creators, RFE/RL Belarusian journalists Zhanna Novick and Dzmitry Hurnievic.
Zhanna Novick and Dzmitry Hurnievic in conversation with Katia Patin
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It was one of the most consequential revelations of our era. Christopher Wylie single handedly changed the global conversation about politics and democracy when he revealed that his employer, Cambridge Analytica, harvested the information of tens of millions of Facebook users, then used the data to target and manipulate them. He exposed the company’s role in President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Brexit. At the time, Carole Cadwalladr broke the story of Wiley’s revelations. Eight years on, Carole and Chris sit down to look at the lessons we learned – and those we didn’t – about the way our data is managed and what’s coming next with the advances of AI.
Carole Cadwalladr in conversation with Christopher Wylie.
Things cannot go on the way they are now. Without courageous thinking and bold action, the reality of climate change will move through our civilization like a wrecking ball. In this in-conversation session, creator of the Climate Academy, Matthew Pye, talks to Inga Thordar about what it will take to solve the climate crisis and how philosophy can help.
Matthew Pye in conversation with Inga Thordar.
Mariane Pearl, co-founder of The Meteor, delves into the craft of interviewing. In this workshop, Mariane will highlight the many dimensions of character portrayal in any given story, how to avoid our own preconceived ideas and how to render others their complexity.
Space is limited. Sign up here.
Food writing is difficult to define, but for now, let’s just say it is much more than writing about what’s cooking or what’s served on a plate. In our workshop led by food writer Paul Rimple, we will look at how we can make our writing more dynamic and engaging by diving deeper into content, capturing a multi-sensory experience, and exploring new food territory.
Space is limited. It’s first come, first serve.
About 13 million Ukrainians were driven from their homes due to the full-scale Russian invasion of their country, many of them fleeing abroad. Migrants face a number of issues, from access to education and health care, to compensation for ruined housing. Furthermore, thousands of Ukrainians were forcibly taken to Russia in breach of international law.
Russia, too, has its own story of migration. Over 8 million migrants from Central Asia live and work in Russia, many of them subject to discrimination, victims of corruption and used as pawns in the Kremlin’s disinformation game. Russia's invasion of Ukraine increased the vulnerability of Central Asian migrants, leaving them more exposed to exploitation and aggressive recruitment drives to join the war effort. RFE/RL is rethinking how to cover the migrant story.
Kateryna Lykhohliad and Tolkun Umaraliev in conversation with Patrick Boehler.
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Did you know that 85 percent of jobs that will be around in 2030 do not even exist yet? Employers are increasingly unsatisfied with the quality of university graduates, students are increasingly confused about what it is they should study, and now, we’ve got AI on top of it all. So, what does the future hold for education?
Aaron Rasmussen in conversation with Salah Khalil.
Before joining Coda Story as senior audio producer, award-winning journalist Becky Lipscombe spent years crisscrossing the world as a senior BBC producer. In this hands-on workshop, Becky shares her best tips on creating a compelling audio story.
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
Data journalism is not simply about reporting numbers. It is about using data to provide a bigger picture for audiences contextually and visually. RFE/RL’s Levin-Utkin Fellows will share how to make data stories
compelling, even with limited access to data; how to structure data storytelling on social media in an engaging way; and how to set a workflow that fosters a creative and holistic approach to publishing.
Kristina Zakurdaeva, Aziza Raimberdieva, Karina Merkuryeva, and Maiia Guseva.
Emmy-nominated producer and media entrepreneur, Zahra Rasool, leads the storytelling and innovation studio AJ Contrast, part of the Al Jazeera Network. She is also the force behind Generation Change: an Al Jazeera English series that attempts to understand and challenge the ideas that are mobilizing the youth around the world. Now in Tbilisi, Zahra meets Georgia’s Gen Z-ers who are spearheading the fight for the country’s future.
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American film producer and entertainment executive Adam Neuhaus has spent years leading development for ESPN Films, including the network’s legendary 30for30 series of documentary films.
Adam Neuhaus in conversation with Matthew Janney.
Architecture is more than just buildings. The places and spaces we inhabit are layered with histories, meaning, potential and, as such, are a reflection of our times and our ambitions. In this panel founders of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennale Otar Nemsadze and Gigi Shukakidze will explore concepts of storytelling in architecture and urbanism and the role local societies can play in their future.
Georgian Architects Otar Nemsadze and Gigi Shukakidze in conversation with Gillian Dobias.
In this poignant and deeply intimate Oscar-nominated documentary, three kids temporarily removed from their parents find friendship and flickers of hope inside the worn walls of a remarkable orphanage in Eastern Ukraine, as a group of dedicated social workers create moments of joy and respite in a childhood all but lost.
The movie screening will be followed by a Q&A with the Academy Award-nominated director Simon Lereng Wilmont, in conversation with Mariane Pearl.
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From the mountains of Afghanistan to the depth of the ocean, from behind the walls of Jeddah to the beaches of the Atlantic our storytellers will take you on a magical journey around the world and back.
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A talk by Phedon Papamichael.
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Join Georgian philosopher and activist Levan Ghambashidze on this tour of Georgia’s turbulent political transition from totalitarianism to democracy.
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
Join Georgia’s leading art curator, Irena Popiashvili, for this introductory tour of Georgia's extraordinary contemporary art scene.
Spaces are limited. Sign up here. You will receive an email with meeting instructions.
We have partnered up with the team of historians at SovLab, an organization studying Georgia’s Soviet totalitarian past to offer ZEGg festival participants an unforgettable tour through the key moments of the country’s 20th century history. It’s the history that Vladimir Putin doesn’t want you to learn: in 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs designated SovLab as Georgia’s #1 organization “faking history and spreading disinformation.” Join historian Irakli Khvadagiani and former MP Giorgi Kandelaki on this tour of the past that still haunts the present.
In collaboration with SovLab
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
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Today, everyone is a photographer but what does it mean for photography itself? Think about where cameras have come from 15 years ago and imagine what is coming our way in the next 15 years. Award-winning photographers Thomas Dworzak and Olivia Arthur discuss the future of their profession and whether they are ready to be replaced by the AI in conversation with Andrew North
TURNING BIG GLOBAL ISSUES INTO EXCITING STORIES
Eliza Anyangwe, the Managing Editor of CNN’s gender reporting team As Equals, speaks with Senior Video Editor Ladan Anoushfar about the dilemmas of remote global storytelling on big issues. The session will dig into creative ways of using video in a news environment and experimenting with cinematic approaches to tell impactful stories about gender inequality. There will be plenty of time for questions and interaction.
Eliza Anyangwe in conversation with Ladan Anoushfar.
In partnership with CNN As Equals
In the summer of 2021, over 100,000 people in India died from Covid-19 in 40 days, in what came to be known as the country’s “second wave”. Author and journalist, Aman Sethi, found himself thinking that there was no way that a society, a community, a country of 1.7 billion people (now the most populous in the world) can witness and experience so much loss, sorrow and economic misery up close and emerge unchanged. Listen to Aman as he tells the story of what happened and how it left India changed.
Journalists are no longer the gatekeepers to information. In a world where everyone has a platform and many leaders are quick to use and abuse them, journalism faces complicated new challenges, from disinformation to AI and deep fakes, and the splintering of the journalistic landscape. Join CBS News’ Head of Standards Claudia Milne, the CEO of UK's Independent Television Network Rachel Corp and Coda Story’s Publisher Ilan Greenberg to learn what challenges the media face and how organizations are thinking about tackling them.
Claudia Milne and Rachel Corp in conversation with Ilan Greenberg.
Are you a young filmmaker looking to advance your film project? Get coaching and feedback from the award-winning filmmaker Mariane Pearl.
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
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Even if you’ve never heard of Sarah Natochenny, you’ve heard her voice. She is Ash Ketchum and various other characters in the English dub of Pokemon. In this conversation with creator of Vogue’s 73 Questions Joe Sabia, Sarah lets you in on the secret power of the voice.
Sarah Natochenny in conversation with Joe Sabia.
Zahra Rasool, head of Al Jazeera Contrast, talks about her practice that centers storytelling grounded in collaboration and co-creation in order to spotlight urgent issues faced by underrepresented communities and related conflict in a way that empowers diverse voices.
Space is limited. It’s first come, first serve.
From rampant disinformation to newly emerging narratives, the war in Ukraine is loudly echoing across the African continent. This panel discussion, led by African journalists, explains why Russian narratives on the continent are proving to be so sticky.
Branko Brkic, Aisha Dabo and Isaac Otidi Amuke in conversation with Anna Reismann.
Michael Idov, Ariana Lolaeva and Ilya Ovechkin in conversation with Marina Bocharova
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Nicola Dinan’s literary debut is one of Europe’s most hotly anticipated novels, and she is already busy adapting “Bellies” for screen after the TV rights for the book were picked up by the producers of “Normal People” in a 15-way auction. In conversation with Matthew Janney, Nicola discusses the novel, her creative process and her personal journey.
Nicola Dinan in conversation with Matthew Janney.
Over 70 years since the death of Stalin, SovLab’s Giorgi Kandelaki and historian Lasha Bakradze will discuss the legacy of the Georgia-born Soviet dictator and how it still haunts Georgia today.
Giorgi Kandelaki and Lasha Bakradze in conversation with Nadia Beard.
Get coaching and feedback on your creative project from Adam Neuhaus, founder of Neuhaus ideas and the former head of development of 30for30 of ESPN Films.
Spaces are limited. Sign up here.
The arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan Gershkovich, on espionage charges in Russia marked a serious diplomatic escalation in Moscow’s battle against the West. A week after Evan’s latest trial in Moscow, we sit down with Polina Ivanova, his close personal friend and one of the leaders of the global campaign to get him out.
In partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists
Cultural and art criticism do not get a lot of press. But they are crucial when it comes to shaping the narratives of societies we live in, especially when these societies are polarized and fractured. Join art curator Irena Popiashvili and artist Tamar Chabashvili for this conversation with Kimberlee Cordova.
Irena Popiashvili, Tamar Chabashvili, and Kimberlee Cordova.
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Award-winning creative executive, Adam Pincus, has done it all: from production and financing of scripted and non-fiction television series, to feature films, creating digital content and brands, to heading independent studios. In this in-conversation session, Adam talks about trends in the non-fiction entertainment industry and ways to give new life to an old story.
Adam Pincus in conversation with Inga Thordar.
What do you do when your climate crisis coverage keeps hitting a wall of readers’ disinterest? You attempt to pack more information in three and a half minutes than we can achieve through three and a half thousand articles. You need to be…different. But how do you do it? Join editor-in-chief of the Daily Maverick, Branko Brkic, to find out.
Branko Brkic in conversation with Julie Posetti.
Voted one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2022, Sevgil Musaieva is the editor-in-chief of one of Ukraine’s biggest dailies: Ukrainska Pravda. Hear the discussion between the International Press Institute’s, Jacqui Park, and Sevgil on covering the war and where Ukraine’s story is headed next.
Sevgil Musaieva in conversation with Jacqui Park.
Nelly & Nadine is the unlikely love story between two women falling in love on Christmas Eve, 1944, in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Despite being separated in the last months of the war, Nelly and Nadine manage to later reunite and spend the rest of their lives together. For many years, their love story was kept a secret, even to some of their closest family. Now, Nelly’s grandchild, Sylvie, has decided to open Nelly and Nadine’s unseen personal archives and uncover their remarkable story.
The movie screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director, Magnus Gertten.
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Do we need to rethink colonialism? It’s one of the most urgent questions that has emerged from the war in Ukraine. This panel brings together global voices to discuss the efforts and challenges of complicating colonialism. A townhall with Ukrainian philosopher Volodymyr Yermolenko (online) and other speakers, moderated by Natalia Antelava.
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Are our beliefs, religious or political, strong enough to stand up to a joke? Satire was always there to offend, but offending is a whole new ball game in the age of social media. Armando Iannucci, one of the most prolific satirists of our era and the creator of Veep and The Death of Stalin, discusses satire in the age of absurdity with Ilan Greenberg, publisher of Coda Story.
Armando Iannucci in conversation with Ilan Greenberg.
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