Georgian film director Rezo Gigineishvili has published a post in support of actor Andro Chichinadze, who is serving a prison sentence in a case concerning “group violation of public order.”
Chichinadze was detained in December 2024. He took part in pro-European protests held in Tbilisi following the authorities’ decision to suspend the country’s European integration process.
The director accompanied his post with reflections on the importance of culture for the state and the role artists play in its development.
“Today, I feel like an ally to those actors who are so finely attuned and perceive the world with particular sensitivity. I consider it my duty to support Andro Chichinadze, his pain, and his separation from his mother and family. If some of my colleagues choose not to see the ‘elephant in the room,’ that is their choice. But it is also my right to speak my mind.”
According to Gigineishvili, it is often artists—rather than political analysts, politicians, or scholars—who sense impending danger before anyone else: not because they necessarily know more, but because their craft and their very nature demand a heightened sensitivity.
“The world comes to know a country through its culture. It is culture that makes a nation, a community of people living on a given land, recognizable. Through churches, frescoes, music, literature, cinema, and painting, one can understand who you are and where you come from. Georgia has chosen tourism as a key driver of its development. This is wonderful if tourism also encompasses culture. But when a country’s appeal is measured solely by restaurants, cafes, hotels, and square meters of real estate sold, we lose what matters most,” wrote Rezo Gigineishvili.
