Culture Ministry sacks National Film Centre Director for "misuse of funds", "potential nepotism"
Chkheidze went on record last year to defend the cinema body from criticism from unspecified "media outlets" but added it needed "institutional and financial strengthening". Photo via Georgian National Film Centre
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Georgia's Culture Ministry has relieved Gaga Chkheidze, the Director of the Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC), of his position for "misuse of funds" and "potential cases of nepotism", with the state body announcing the move on Monday.
In its announcement, the Ministry said an investigation of GNFC financials between 2019-2020 had revealed expenditures of financial resources in the period that had been "incompatible with law".
The culture body's allegations also include "serious flaws" in the financial management system at the state cinema institution, as well as "systematic" violations of the state law on procurements, and "absence of a system of oversight".
A report on Chkheidze's work at the GNFC has also been forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office for "further reaction", the Ministry added, in addition to other ongoing inquiries on "various matters" from the report.
Chkheidze told publika.ge on Monday the news on his sacking was a "surprise", adding he had not been granted access to the report. The former GNFC Director told the media outlet he would make further comments after accessing the inquiry's conclusions.
Karlo Sikharulidze, the First Deputy Minister of Culture, has assumed the position of the Acting Director of the Centre during the transitional period until the new manager of the body is selected.
Chkheidze went on record last year to claim the GNFC needed "institutional and financial strengthening" on its 20th anniversary, and defended the institution from unspecified "recent criticism in media outlets".
While arguing abolishing the Centre would cause "a collapse of the Georgian cinema industry", Chkheidze acknowledged the areas the body needed to address. A "radical" increase in its annual budget - currently "completely inadequate for the rising needs of the film sector" - and a launch of a physical infrastructure for the GNFC were named in the post as the principal needs.
A group of citizens and culture field professionals gathered outside the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia on Friday to demand resignation of minister Thea Tsulukiani and end to "Bolshevik purges" at culture institutions, following layoffs from the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and a recent spat between the ministry and the Literature Museum over a newly published poetry collection.
Thea Tsulukiani, the Minister of Culture, Sport and Youth, has said her ministry will not resume its support of the Litera Prize, one of two principal awards for literature in Georgia, adding the culture body "did everything" to reach an agreement with organisers of the annual competition following a protest by authors, publishers and most of the jury panel led to a cancellation of the 2021 edition.
Film industry members in Georgia, in total 180 people, which include directors, producers, actors, cameramen and film experts have sent an open letter to the Minister of Culture Tea Tsulukiani, asking her to increase the budget for the film production of the Georgian National Film Center to 10 million GEL (about $3.22m/€2.75m) by 2022.
The Georgian National Film Centre needs "institutional and financial strengthening" on its 20th anniversary and there are no grounds for criticism about it having exhausted its potential, Director Gaga Chkheidze has said in a social media message underscoring the importance of the state cinema body.
Gaga Chkheidze, the former Director of the Georgian National Film Centre who was relieved of his position by Culture Ministry on Monday, has responded to allegations by the latter and said he will sue the Ministry if not reinstated, in addition to outlining a range of grievances about the treatment of the GNFC by the current Culture Minister.
A group of Expert Commission members of the Georgian National Film Center have launched a legal dispute against their dismissals and alleged the Culture Minister’s bias in their replacement on the positions in the midst of work to select winners of the body’s current competition for feature films.
A newly established union of culture workers has vowed to fight the sacking of up to 20 employees of the Georgian National Museum network this week, after the professionals held a protest in Tbilisi on Wednesday in response to the latest round of controversial dismissals from cultural institutions since the appointment of Culture Minister Thea Tsulukiani.