Irakli Kakabadze, ICOA writer-in-residence
In December of 2006, Irakli Kakabadze and Anna Dolidze fled the Georgian Republic when, due to their outspoken criticism of the government, they faced repeated attacks and arrests. By the fall of 2007, Kakabadze, a renowned political activist, and Dolidze, a human rights lawyer, had begun a new life in America with their infant son.
Yet in November of that year, their new life was unsettled by news of mass protests in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Those protests proceeded peacefully for five days before Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili violently dispersed demonstrators and seized control of the media. When President Saakashvili announced that new elections would be held in an effort to appease international powers, the couple decided to return to their homeland. Kakabadze and Dolidze were determined to help their fellow citizens defend the democratic freedoms first gained in the peaceful Rose Revolution of 2003—which, ironically, both Kakabadze and Saakashvili had helped to lead.
The documentary film “At the Top of My Voice” was filmed at the time, chronicling Kakabadze and Dolidze as they attempt to balance safety for their family, and democracy for their country, in the weeks preceding the election. This week the film was screened at Wells with Kakabadze and Dolidze present to answer questions. A number of students and faculty came to learn more about the Georgian Republic, its people, and its current struggle as a fledging democracy.
Kakabadze is currently the writer-in-residence of Ithaca City of Asylum, an organization dedicated to providing sanctuary to writers whose works are suppressed or whose lives are threatened. Wells College partners with ICOA as part of its ongoing commitment to internationalism and to social concerns. Three members of Wells’ staff–Director of Institutional Diversity Steve Gilchrist, Director of Publications Mark Temelko, and I–serve on the ICOA board.
More about Kakabadze can be found at the Ithaca City of Asylum web site. More about the film can be found at the film’s site.
Yet in November of that year, their new life was unsettled by news of mass protests in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Those protests proceeded peacefully for five days before Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili violently dispersed demonstrators and seized control of the media. When President Saakashvili announced that new elections would be held in an effort to appease international powers, the couple decided to return to their homeland. Kakabadze and Dolidze were determined to help their fellow citizens defend the democratic freedoms first gained in the peaceful Rose Revolution of 2003—which, ironically, both Kakabadze and Saakashvili had helped to lead.
The documentary film “At the Top of My Voice” chronicles Kakabadze and Dolidze as they attempt to balance safety for their family, and democracy for their country, in the weeks preceding the election. The film is an intimate portrait of those who struggle for freedom and democracy, as well as the increasingly transnational and transcontinental nature of political activism in the 21st century.
Kakabadze is currently the writer-in-residence of Ithaca City of Asylum, an organization dedicated to providing sanctuary to writers whose works are suppressed or whose lives are threatened. Wells College partners with ICOA as part of its ongoing commitment to internationalism and to social concerns.
The film will be screened at Wells College at 4:45 on September 23rd, in room 209 of Stratton Hall. Kakabadze and Dolidze will introduce the film, and will answer questions afterwards.
More about Kakabadze can be found at the Ithaca City of Asylum web site. More about the film can be found at the film’s site.
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