Soso Dumbadze

On 25th December 2011 the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II described his 34 year-long leadership as head of the Georgian Orthodox Church as a ‘sunny night’. Beginning in 1989, and going up to the present, the film essay Sunny Night tells of political and social events since Georgian Independence. A variety of formats and sources, disparate images and voices report on protests, recommencements, uproars and wars, and religious identity that centres around the dominant religion of the nation. In the midst of the ongoing shifts and the various state of affairs, the patriarch stands out as the only constant figure. Meanwhile the sermonised religion begins to take on radical forms, going as far as priests forming front row human-chains, leading protests of several thousand orthodox believers chasing a handful of LGBT activist throughout the streets of Tbilisi in May 2013.

When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, it became clear to anyone that the aggressor was conducting a hybrid war against Ukraine. It conquered Crimea with a combination of disinformation, propaganda, and secret military support for rebel groups and covert military operations. The only surprise is that many people were surprised when Russia deployed this military strategy, because it has a long history of doing so.