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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning

@xkuenning.bsky.social
66 followers 68 following 15 posts

Editor at OC Media and Editor-in-Chief at Lossi 36 | Obsessed with tea, fairytales, and international affairs

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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
🎶 OC REVIEWS: Chapsh’s debut album has everything: it’s moody, energetic, and authentic, deriving inspiration from ancient Circassian healing rituals. oc-media.org/review-shaps...
oc-media.org
Review | Shapshe — thoughtful, energetic, and fun Circassian folk music
Chapsh’s debut album has everything: it’s moody, energetic, and authentic, deriving inspiration from ancient healing rituals.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
🎬Three short films from 2024 were recently screened at WineCast in Mukhrani, Georgia. From a local take on an acid Western to a revenge film shot entirely through a car windshield, they show how varied Georgia’s cinema is. oc-media.org/review-explo...
oc-media.org
Review | Exploring three recent Georgian shorts from across genres at WineCast 2025
From a local take on an acid Western to a revenge film shot entirely through a car windshield, these shorts show how varied Georgia’s cinema is.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
Katherine E. Young @katherineeyoung.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Grateful to @ocmedia.bsky.social for publishing @xkuenning.bsky.social's thoughtful, perceptive review of #AkramAylisli's "People and Trees." Translating this marvelous book was a labor of love--so glad to see it getting some well-deserved attention! oc-media.org/review-peopl...
oc-media.org
Review | People and Trees: A Trilogy — exploring boyhood in rural Soviet Azerbaijan
A collection of three novellas, People and Trees encapsulates the experiences of a boy growing up in post-World War II Azerbaijan.
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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning @xkuenning.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
To mark Georgian director Eldar Shengelaia's recent passing, @ocmedia.bsky.social is reviewing some of his most famous films, all of which are available with English subtitles. To start, his 1963 exploration of the age-old conflict between tradition and modernity: oc-media.org/review-the-w...
oc-media.org
Review | The White Caravan — Georgian pastoralism clashes with modernity
Eldar Shengelaia’s 1963 film is a visually alluring and emotional exploration of the age-old conflict between tradition and modernity.
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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning @xkuenning.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
I had a lot of fun collecting opinions from my colleagues @ocmedia.bsky.social on Eurovision 2025 and the three South Caucasus entries. Have a read here: oc-media.org/oc-media-tea...
oc-media.org
OC Media team ranks South Caucasus Eurovision 2025 songs
Ahead of Eurovision 2025, we asked our staff to give their opinions and predictions of all three South Caucasus entries.
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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning @xkuenning.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Elene Mikaberidze’s first full-length documentary is a warm, funny, yet bittersweet slice of life — my latest review for @ocmedia.bsky.social Check out this heartfelt Georgian film on @klassiki.bsky.social as part of the ongoing goEast Film Festival! oc-media.org/review-blueb...
oc-media.org
Review | Blueberry Dreams — A contemplative look at the dreams and struggles of a Georgian family
Elene Mikaberidze’s first full-length documentary is a warm, funny, yet bittersweet slice of life.
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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning @xkuenning.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
The third @ocmedia.bsky.social Culture Dispatch will be out tomorrow, focusing on regional Easter traditions, a hauntingly beautiful film on the Armenian Genocide, and celebratory synths. Sign up below! oc-media.org/pages/oc-cul...
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Protesters met outside parliament in Tbilisi to mark 9 April 1989, when Soviet troops killed 21 and injured hundreds. Families of protesters recently detained spent the night there, after which minor clashes broke out between demonstrators and ruling party supporters.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
The ruling Georgian Dream party has begun to consider an amendment to the Law on Grants, which would include a new article regulating the procedure for issuing grants by foreign donors. oc-media.org/georgian-dre...
oc-media.org
Georgian Dream initiates new legislation to regulate the issuing of grants by foreign donors
Georgian Dream and its satellites have long criticised foreign donors for supporting civil society and media.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
📚 OC Review: Armen Davoudian’s debut poetry collection, The Palace of Forty Pillars, is a powerful narrative of queerness, exile, and memory — spanning Armenian, Iranian, and American history. oc-media.org/review-the-p...
oc-media.org
Review | The Palace of Forty Pillars — an impressive poetic debut from the Armenian–Iranian Diaspora
Armen Davoudian’s debut — taking the reader through Armenian, Iranian, and American history — is a beautiful personal narrative on change and loss.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
📚 OC Reviews: 1978 — The Struggle for the Status of the Georgian Language: Oral Histories oc-media.org/review-1978-...
oc-media.org
Review | 1978 — The Struggle for the Status of the Georgian Language: Oral Histories
While an interesting collection of oral histories, this compilation struggles to do too much at once, becoming disjointed in the process.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Georgian Dream has proposed legislative changes that would allow the banning of political parties if they are deemed similar to previously banned parties. The ruling party initiated these changes amid its threats to ban the currently existing opposition groups. oc-media.org/georgian-dre...
oc-media.org
Georgian Dream vows to amend law to ban new and future opposition parties
Banning the political opposition was one of the ruling party’s pre-election promises for 2024.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Erdoğan steals video of Georgian protests to accuse Turkish opposition of ‘vandalism’. The video includes footage where the parliament building in Tbilisi is clearly visible. Read more: oc-media.org/erdogan-pres...
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
🎵 OC reviews: Natalie Beridze’s 'Street Life’ turns Georgia’s protests into an oppressive soundscape, capturing both the exhaustion and resolve of a movement. Built from real protest sounds, it’s a haunting, Lynchian memoir of resistance. oc-media.org/review-stree...
oc-media.org
Review | Street Life — the cold drone of Georgia’s long winter protest
Natalie Beridze’s Street Life turns Georgia’s protests into an oppressive soundscape, capturing both the exhaustion and resolve of a movement.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
On Wednesday, the Armenian Parliament adopted a bill that calls on the government to seek EU integration in its second and final hearing. The bill was passed with 64 votes in favour and 7 against. This is how Armenian MEP's reacted to its passage: oc-media.org/the-armenian...
oc-media.org
The Armenian Parliament adopts a bill seeking EU accession
The bill was backed by the Armenian government in January.
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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning @xkuenning.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Excited to announce that @ocmedia.bsky.social is launching a new review section, covering cinema, literature, and music throughout the Caucasus. Check out my first review — ‘Hard by a Great Forest’ by Leo Vardiashvili — below! oc-media.org/review-hard-...
oc-media.org
Review | Hard by a Great Forest — a compelling tale of a Georgian homecoming
Leo Vardiashvili’s debut novel weaves a compelling tale of homecoming, guilt, and loss, all set against the surreal backdrop of a mass zoo escape.
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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning @xkuenning.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
📢 Do you have a background in journalism or nonprofits? Are you interested in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, or the Caucasus? Lossi 36 is looking for board members to help grow our organisation. 🔗 Application and details can be found here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
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Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning @xkuenning.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
As the year comes to an end, the team behind Lossi 36 has come together to share their recommendations for books, albums, and movies on Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. 🔗 Read the reviews here: lossi36.com/2024/12/30/e...
lossi36.com
Editor's choice 2024: A round-up of recommendations from the team behind Lossi 36 - Lossi 36
The team behind Lossi 36 shares with you their favourite recommendations of books, podcasts, and movies covering all of Lossi's regions.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
PM Irakli Kobakhidze has congratulated Mikheil Kavelashvili on being elected President of Georgia, noting that under his leadership 'the institution of the president will return to its constitutional mission and regain its dignity'. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live...
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Local residents of Zugdidi, in Georgia’s western region of Samegrelo, gathered outside the Governor’s Office followed by a march for a consecutive day of anti-government protests. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live... 🎥 Odishi TV
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Demonstrators in Batumi have made a Christmas tree decorated with photos of protesters and journalists visibly injured during recent rallies as well as a caricatured image of President-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live... 📷 Archil Kakhadze
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
A group of Georgians have held a protest outside the Georgian consulate in Frankfurt today, condemning the consulate staff’s silence on election irregularities. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live... 📷 Tako Urushadze
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Students have gathered in Kutaisi demanding new elections and the release of ‘regime prisoners’. The students plan to march through the city streets where they will join protesters gathered outside the local government building at 17:00. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live...
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
According to Batumelebi, thousands of people are holding a protest rally in support of those detained during the demonstrations against the government’s EU U-turn. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live...
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Representatives from several religious minority groups have joined the ongoing protest in Tbilisi after marching to the Parliament building with a banner reading ‘Together for Real Peace’. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live...
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
A number of Georgian citizens attending the pro-EU demonstration on Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue, as well as journalists covering the protests, have been violently attacked by groups of unidentified, masked individuals. oc-media.org/groups-of-ma...
oc-media.org
Groups of masked attackers target journalists and government critics during Tbilisi protests
Tonight’s protests in Tbilisi were characterised by violent attacks on protesters, government critics, and journalists.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Georgian actor Giorgi Makharadze has reportedly been attacked by around 30 individuals carrying batons while police stood by. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/georgia-live... 📷 Dato Papava
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
BREAKING: One of the leaders of Coalition for Change, Nika Gvaramia, has been detained by police. He had requested that police allow him to enter the coalition's office which was being searched. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates... 📽️Formula
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Georgia’s Constitutional Court has dismissed a lawsuit submitted by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili and opposition parties against the 26 October parliamentary elections. oc-media.org/georgias-con...
oc-media.org
Georgia’s Constitutional Court rejects Zourabichvili and opposition appeals
While the court was widely expected to vote in the government’s favour, Georgian Dream inaugurated the new parliament before waiting for a decision.
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Rustaveli Avenue has been blocked for the seventh night in a row. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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Katie Shoshiashvili @kshoshiashvili.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Nationwide protests are happening today in at least half of Georgia’s cities and towns. Here’s the full list: Batumi, Kobuleti, Ozurgeti, Lanchkhuti, Chokhatauri, Poti, Zugdidi, Chkhorotsku, Tsalenjikha, Martvili, Jvari, Kutaisi, Kharagauli, Tkibuli, Dmanisi, Borjomi, Akhaltsikhe, Khashuri, Dusheti
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Protesters remain outside the Georgia Parliament for a sixth night. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Georgian rights group the Partnership for Human Rights (PHR) has reported that last night, masked police officers beat up a deaf man as he was walking home from the protests in Tbilisi. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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Tata Chemia @tatach.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
A little town of 🇬🇪 Senaki #GeorgiaProtests @publikage.bsky.social
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Students at schools and universities across Georgia — including in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Telavi, and Gori — have boycotted classes and held protests outside 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates... 📷 Batumlebi
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Reposted by Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Last night, riot police attempted to arrest OC Media's @mariamnikuradze.bsky.social during the protests in Tbilisi. She was eventually released, but officers slammed her against a wall, breaking her camera. Help us stand our ground — becoming an OC Media member. 👉 t.co/WO8zNEhLxM
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
A group of queer activists have gathered in front of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s office in Tbilisi in protest against the LGBT propaganda law which came into force today. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Thousands of protesters have gathered in Tbilisi for a fifth night of protests. Police have reportedly already used fire hoses and tear gas to disperse protesters in front of the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue. 🔴Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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David Rypel @davidrypel.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Georgia's anti-LGBTQI law comes into force today, prohibiting (among others) legal and medical gender transition or information about queer people in education and broadcasting. oc-media.org/features/exp...
oc-media.org
Explainer | What’s in Georgia’s new anti-queer bill?
The ruling Georgian Dream party has tabled a package bill of anti-queer legislation and amendments, coming in the wake of years of rhetoric condemning ‘LGBT propaganda’.
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
We are relaunching our live updates covering the mass protests and political fallout following the government’s decision to halt EU accession until 2028. oc-media.org/live-updates...
oc-media.org
Live updates | Fallout in Georgia continues after halting of EU accession
Violent crackdowns continue on pro-EU demonstrations across Georgia.
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has vowed to stay on as president after her term expires, stating that an illegitimate parliament cannot appoint her successor. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
What looks to be well over 100,000 people have filled almost the entire length of Rustaveli Avenue in the largest demonstration since the Georgian government’s U-turn on EU integration 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...  📸 Ezz Gaber
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Protesters are continuing to launch fireworks at riot police behind the Georgian parliament building while others attempt to set alight one of the doors to the building. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates... 📽️TV Pirveli
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Formula has reported the police have deployed rubber bullets against protesters in Tbilisi. Despite this and large amounts of tear gas also being deployed, the protesters remain defiant. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
A Georgian riot police officer throws large rocks at protesters in Tbilisi. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
At close to 06:00 am in Georgia, protesters are continuing to battle police and construct barricades along Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue, chanting ‘until the end!’. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Media representatives have held a rally in Kutaisi, highlighting that ‘journalists’ lives are in danger’ and demanding authorities give them ‘the opportunity to work safely’. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates... 📷 Publika
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
We’re continuing our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests that have emerged in the wake of the Georgian government’s announcement that Georgia would be halting its EU accession process oc-media.org/live-updates...
oc-media.org
Live updates | Backlash against Georgia’s halting of EU accession continues
107 people were arrested during last night's pro-EU and anti-government demonstrations.
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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Riot police have stormed the protest on Rustaveli Avenue from multiple directions, making numerous arrests. 🔴 Live updates: oc-media.org/live-updates...
oc-media.org
Live updates | Fallout from announcement on Georgia’s halting of EU accession continues
Protests are expected to resume at 19:00 in front of parliament.
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