Youth workers launch crowdfunding to bring cinema to locals in Georgia's west

The crowdfunding team plan to purchase film screening equipment and use a vehicle for bringing screenings to both open-air and closed spaces in the region. Photo: Ave Maria Mõistlik/CC BY-SA 3.0

Agenda.ge, 21 Nov 2022 - 13:27, Tbilisi,Georgia

A group of youth workers in western Georgia's Guria region have launched a crowdfunding drive for setting up a mobile cinema bringing film screenings to young locals.

Aiming to address a lack of screening spaces in villages of the region where the group meets young residents, the campaign seeks to purchase devices and install them on a vehicle that will travel to host film sessions in open air or in closed spaces.

Organisers said residents they met during their work told them of the wish to have film spaces in their localities. Crowdfunding initiators also said not just villages but even municipal hubs in the region lacked functional cinema venues for the purpose.

While some Soviet-era culture house buildings in Georgia's west were recently announced to begin undergoing renovation, local cultural venues across the country have been in general disrepair and without their former role due to a lack of funding and infrastructural neglect over the past decades.

In their summary for the initiative, the crowdfunding team noted the goal of bringing film screenings to locals was important due to film's potential  to "widen worldviews" and "impact the society, and, in particular, the youth".

The group includes Kahaber Lomadze, the founder of the Student-Youth Council working to support young residents and students in the region in educational and creative opportunities, and youth workers designated to municipalities of the region.

The campaign has already raised ₾3,310 ($1,219) of its target ₾4,286 ($1,578) with eight days remaining, while it also has support from the USAID Civil Society Engagement Program in the country.