Zurab Kodalashvili

Education

Equipment

My Equipment/Kit:

I can use:

About me

Zurab Kodalashvili is a news and documentary cameraproducer with over 18 years of experience of working in locations such as UK, EUROPE, Russia, Chechnya, Dagestan; Georgia, Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Baltic States, Ukraine, Belarus, Afghanistan, India and Africa.

Zurab was one of the first freelance cameramen to film conflicts in the former Soviet Union following its disintegration. He began his camera career in 1990 by filming the events of the Armenian/Azeri conflict in Karabakh and the conflict in South Ossetia, Georgia.

Zurab moved to Moscow where he worked with the BBC from 1993 to 2003.
Zurab filmed conflicts in Abkhazia, the Ingush-Ossetian conflicts and the first and second Chechen wars.

WORK EXPERIENCE
Video Producer, editor RT TV UK ( December 2005 -October 2008)
Filmed and edited: Politics, business and showbiz stories all around Uk and Europe

Freelance cameraman (December 2003 - December2005)

Zurab relocated to the UK in autumn 2003 and has been working as a
freelance cameraman for BBC News, SKY News and CNN. He has filmed in the UK, Iraq, Portugal, Rwanda, Russia and Ukraine. In spring 2004, he worked as camera director in Georgia on one of a series of films shot around the world for the BBC2 documentary "One Day at War". In November 2004, he filmed the storming of Fallujah in Iraq with the US Marines for SKY News. In 2005, he mainly worked on domestic news features for CNN in the UK.

BBC Moscow bureau (1993 - October 2003)

From 1993 - 2003, Zurab was employed as a staff cameraman with the BBC in Moscow. He was the first local cameraman to be employed by the BBC following the break-up of the Soviet Union. He filmed and produced news and features all over the former Soviet Union, including in many of the war zones, northern Russia, Siberia and the far east of Russia. He also filmed the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the earthquake in Gujarat, India in 2001.

Highlights of his career with the BBC include:

Chechnya

Zurab has shot both news and documentaries in Chechnya during the height of the conflicts. He often worked alone as camera-director to
circumvent reporting restrictions imposed by the Russian authorites. He has filmed on both the Chechen and the Russian sides of the conflict.

Dagestan

Zurab shot an exclusive interview with Chechen rebel leader, Raduyev in Pervomaisk while he held several hundred people hostage. Raduyev's unit had seized about 150 hostages at a hospital in the town of Kizlyar and held them, the villagers of Pervomaisk and Russian soldiers hostage.
Following Zurab's interview, a second news crew from WTN were granted an interview with Raduyev but were subsequently taken hostage themselves.

Abkhazia/Georgia

Zurab filmed the territorial conflict in Georgia in 1992/3, pursuant to which Abkhazia broke away from Georgia.

Afghanistan

In 2001, Zurab was with the first BBC crew to broadcast news from
Afghanistan following the events of September 11th.

Freelance journalist/cameraman (1990 - 1993)

From 1990 to 1993, Zurab worked predominantly as a freelance cameraman for various international news organizations, including ARD, ZDF
(Germany), TBS (Japan), WTN, Wiznews (Reuters), France 2, and Antenna 3 (Spain).

He was also a radio correspondent for Radio Liberty and the BBC Russian service in Georgia.

Highlights include:

Karabakh

From 1990 to 1993, Zurab filmed the Azeri/Armenian conflict in Karabakh.

Georgia

Zurab has filmed extensively in Georgia. In particular, he shot the events of the coup in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1991/2 and filmed the
territorial conflict in South Ossetia in both 1990 and 1992.

Miscellaneous

* Trainer of TV journalists for INTERNEWS in Moscow and Tbilisi
* Founder and President of the Independent News Service (INS) - INS was
founded in 1992 to unite stringers working in war zones in the former Soviet Union + 1st Russian business tv program "BUSINESS IN RUSSIA"
* Founder and director of the "Iberia" information agency, the first Georgian news agency to work with the western mass media
* Editor of the Georgian newspaper, "Democrat"
* Correspondent for the Estonian newspaper "Vestnik Estonii"
* Officer in the Soviet navy

EDUCATION

removed Petrodvorets Naval Academy of Radioelectronics (VVMURE
Popov
A.S.), Leningrad - degree in Radioelectronics
1999 BBC internal camera and editing courses
2002 Pilgrims Hostile Environment course
2006 AVID Editing course

CONTACT DETAILS

CONTACT DETAILS

Address: 32 Borough High street London
Tel. removed 0
Mobile: +44(0)7818241585
E-mail: removed

References and showreel available on request

Additional information:
Speaks:
English
Russian

Skills

Secondary Job Title	Editor (Avid)
Job Titles	Video Editor, Camera Operator
Years in industry	6+ years
Organisations / Memberships	BECTU (UK)