The panel explores how audiovisual media projects, including narrative films, documentaries, and media series, can act as tools for research and knowledge production in and about the South Caucasus. By examining the themes of conflict, governance, migration, memory, and gender roles, the discussion will highlight how creative projects complement traditional academic research, provide access to personal and social experiences, and open new avenues for understanding the region’s political and social challenges. The series and film thematize: Dynamics and consequences of war and violence: The narratives explore the long-term social and psychological effects of armed conflict, including trauma and post-war disillusionment. By portraying an Azerbaijani veteran of the Second Karabakh War struggling with PTSD, the film contrasts lived experience with state-sponsored narratives of victory and heroism, offering qualitative insight into post-conflict societies. Democratisation and autocratisation processes: The projects address shrinking civic spaces, media control, and the consolidation of power, particularly in Azerbaijan and increasingly in Georgia. They provide a ground-level perspective on how political systems shape everyday life, public discourse, and individual agency. Migration, mobility, and lack of perspective: The series reflects widespread desires to emigrate from the South Caucasus—driven by political repression, economic precarity, and security concerns. These stories complement migration research by foregrounding motivations, emotions, and social costs that are often absent from statistical analyses. Culture, memory, and politics: The film engages with contested memories of conflict, national identity, and historical narratives. It examines how cultural memory is produced, instrumentalized, and challenged through everyday interactions, humor, and silence. Gender roles and social norms: Through its characters, the project addresses changing and contested gender roles, masculinity shaped by war, and women’s agency within patriarchal and politicized environments.