We are delighted to announce the winners of our “Stories of Change” competition from Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Their creative short films shed light on important local histories, social challenges, and inspiring stories of resilience.

Winners from Armenia

• Irina Sosyan and Anahit Mnoyan, students of Gyumri Basic School No. 41 in Shirak region, together with their teacher Arusyak Grigoryan.
• Luiza Mnatsakanyan and Lilit Avagyan, students of Hovtashen Secondary School named after Vardan Mkrtchyan in Ararat region, with their teacher Olya Tosonyan.

Winners from Georgia

• Anastatsia Tsetskhladze and Mariam Putkaradze, students of Shulaveri Public School No. 1, created the short film “The Difficult Life of Eco-Migrants from Georgia’s Adjara Region in the Late 1980s and 1990s”, under the guidance of teacher Dali Kekelidze.
• Rati and Zura Tskipurishvili, students of Apeni Village School No. 1, produced a moving short film about pilot Jimsher Maisuradze, who heroically lost his life during the war. Their teacher Tamar Tskipurishvili supported the project.

Winners from Ukraine

• Elina Tsymbrovska, student of School Generation 22, created the video “Witness of History” about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginnings of building democracy, under the guidance of teacher Yaroslav Melnyk.
• Krakovna Polina, student of Focus Education (Kyiv), made a short interview with Maryna, a witness of Ukraine’s independence. Teacher Yaroslav Melnyk supported the work.

Next Steps

In October 2025, the winning teams from Armenia will welcome their peers from Georgia and Ukraine to a joint workshop in Yerevan within the framework of our project “Lost in Transition?”. The workshop will provide an opportunity for young people to exchange ideas, share experiences, and continue exploring the power of storytelling in addressing memory and change.

About Lost in Transition?

Lost in Transition? is a multinational project of civic and historical education on the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent years of transition. It focuses on multi-perspective work with contemporary witnesses from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Poland, and Ukraine, offering insights that go beyond popular narratives and widely accepted historical accounts.

The project brings together eyewitness stories and educational resources in three thematic phases:

• Pioneers of Civil Society (2021)
• Perspectives of and on Vulnerable Groups and Experiences (2022–2023)
• Eyewitnesses of Democracy (2024–2025) – linking 35 years of transformation with today’s crises and new transitions.

On the project website you can find a contemporary witness database with interviews, contextual historical information, and teaching resources for educators. These materials cover both the historical period and the methods for working with contemporary witnesses in schools and non-formal educational settings.

Through Lost in Transition?, Austausch e.V. and its partners aim to challenge singular historical narratives, uncover hidden conflicts, and foster constructive dialogue across generations. The project also develops innovative online learning tools with a special focus on civil society actors and vulnerable groups during the transition period.

The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and the German Federal Foundation „Aufarbeitung“ and implemented by Austausch e.V. in cooperation with Congress of Cultural Activists (Ukraine), Sovlab (Georgia), SIQA (Georgia), Hazarashen (Armenia), Human Doc (Poland), MamPrawo (Poland) and Perspektive3 (Germany).