On March 22, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) hosted an anniversary evening dedicated to the life and work of Associate Professor Merab Kokochashvili, film director, people’s artist, public figure and head of Film and TV Arts Department of the TSU Faculty of Humanities.
“For years, Merab Kokochashvili has been using his knowledge, experience and fantastic vision to educate our future generation,” Rector of TSU, George Sharvashidze said at the evening. He awarded the Anniversary Medal of TSU to the famous Georgian film director for his contribution to the development of Georgian culture and his long and successful scientific and pedagogical activities.
“I am sure that the relationship with people like Merab Kokochashvili, sharing their knowledge and experience promotes deepening of knowledge, professional growth of students. I am also sure that students are proud of him. Merab Kokochashvili, together with his friends and colleagues, has made a breakthrough in Georgian art, and as he puts it, in national cinematography,” Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Mikheil Giorgadze said.
A documentary “Self- Made” dedicated to Merab Kokochashvili was screened at the event (author: Nino Kakulia, editor of newspaper Tbilisis Universiteti).
“It is a great happiness to be Merab Kokochashvili’s student and to grow up on those aesthetic values, which he teachers as a professor and as a film director,” Dean of the TSU Faculty of Humanities, Nana Gaprindashvili said.
Georgian MPs, Acting Director of Georgian National Film Center, Maia Chilashvili, representatives of Georgian Film Studio, professors and students from TSU and Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film University, as well as invited guests attended the evening.
Merab Kokochashvili thanked the audience. “I have been working at TSU for almost 30 years. I can say that I have been here since the establishment of Film and TV Arts Department. The University was always paying huge attention to our Department and our Department was doing its best for the development of the University,” he said.
Merab Kokochashvili, who has directed 11 fiction films and 10 documentaries, turned 84 on March 21. Kokochashvili has been leading the Film and TV Arts Department of the TSU Faculty of Humanities since 2006.
