Highlight

THE ROMA

And yet in so many ways mainly East European societies have come to depend on the very Gypsy people whom they so often ignore. With a series of recent films about different aspects of Romany lives we hope to allow a chance to hear some of the untold stories as Gypsies would hope to tell them themselves, were they able to do so.

Roma Section of the ASTRA FILM FEST 2000 draws attention to the Romany experience, a perspective which even today is rarely brought into public view.

The Roma section will start with The Roma in Central and Eastern Europe (hors concours) giving a well documented historical view of Roma population rich in archive materials.
Followed by films from contemporary East European and even American societies:
Modern Slavery, a wonderful Hungarian documentary film presenting how a simple conflict of some Roma families and Hungarian homeless people arrives to be sorted out by the apparatus of justice as a case of ethnic discriminatory action
Pomenirea lui Gabor, showing Romanian Gabor Roma's death day celebration
American Gypsy, presenting contemporary civil rights injustices in America
Black and White in Colour, a portrait of the world celebrated Romani singer Vera Bila from Slovakia

The films we will watch and the discussion around them will, we hope, enable a truer picture to emerge of the distinctiveness of Romany cultures.
Like some other minorities the Roma are intensely aware of their image in the wider society and more or less successfully try to use that image to their own advantage. We would like to bring to your attention the many aspects of the responsibility, which should concern all of us who are involved in representing Romany lives in the cinema and television. We hope that this section encourages all participants towards a richer and more subtle understanding of the relations between different Romany peoples and the non Romany majority, a majority which despite its own nightmare visions of a 'minority which controls the majority', still manages to set the terms of debate in a one-sided fashion.

Modern Slavery

Director: Kőszegi Edit
Country: Hungary
Year: 1998
Length: 75

A simple conflict of some Roma families and Hungarian homeless people arrives to be sorted out by the apparatus of justice as a case of ethnic discriminatory action. The way in which the press covered the incident played an important part in this misinterpretation. As a result, the court sentenced the Roma to years of prison, basing its decision exclusively on the exaggerated allegations of the homeless.

Black and White in Colour

Director: Mira Erdevicki
Country: Czech Republic
Year: 1999
Length:58

A vivid documentary portrait of Vera Bílá, a Gypsy singer acclaimed in the international music world. The film explores Romany culture and what it means to be part of a marginalised minority group. Without sentimentalizing, it questions the prospects for mutual understanding. The character emerging from the film is a woman deeply attached to her family and her origins. Her music provides an opportunity for relieving her anxieties about securing sufficient food and money, but it also sweeps her into a competitive business which has little regard for her mood or feelings. The film reveals the exceptional energy Vera brings to her music and her relationships with her family and other members of the band. Shot as a journey with encounters and stories, the film shows a woman with an impressive and challenging personality.

American Gypsy: A Stranger in Everybody's Land

Director: Jasmine Dellal
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 1999
Length: 80

There are one million Gypsies in America, who most people know nothing about. They continue to live according to traditions that remain mysterious to outsiders. This is at least in part because a central aspect of Gypsy culture is the limiting of contact with non-Gypsies. The film tells the story of one Romani family in the American Northwest that has defied the wall of silence surrounding their people. Jimmy Marks, a flamboyant community leader, and his family struggle to regain reputation and property after a racially motivated police raid in their Spokane, Washington home. “American Gypsy” unravels the history and culture of the Roma and the prejudices about their way of life that have arisen over the centuries.

Commemoration of Gabor

Director: Dan Curean
Country: Romania
Year: 1998
Length: 22

On the first day of November, people from Transylvania celebrate “The Day of the Dead”. They bring flowers to the graves of their beloved ones and light candles. The film shows an unusual celebration, in a Gypsy family. The Gabors are not some ordinary Gypsies. They are wealthy people and the rest of the community looks up to them as aristocrats. They gather to commemorate old Gabor, the charismatic patriarch of the family. Following their tradition, they drink and sing by the grave, to the astonishment of the other people in the cemetery.

FESTIVAL PROGRAM

film screenings

AFF09 Film Program (.pdf)

Mo.26 | Tu.27 | We.28 | Th.29

Fr.30 | Sa.31 | Su.01

events

Mo.26 - Su.01

FILM ARCHIVE

ASTRA FILM manages an extensive documentary film collection with public screening facilities. The ASTRA FILM archive started in 1990, and it has collected since thousands of documentaries produced in over 70 countries.

Due to our focus on the Eastern European and Romanian production, the ASTRA FILM archive holds a unique collection of documentaries documenting the issues of post-communism and transition in the region.