The lives of Romani people

Films featuring the lives of European Roma, or Romanies, will be shown during a special weekend dedicated to the subject at the University of St Andrews.

The free public screenings this week, on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th of March, have been organised by the University’s Departments of Social Anthropology and Film Studies.

The six European titles from Spain, Romania, Germany, Hungary and the UK are all critically acclaimed films on the subject of Roma and will be shown in St Andrews for the first time. The films will be shown as part of a British Academy-funded workshop at the University, in which academics and film directors from throughout Europe will be discussing how the Roma are represented in film, art, and politics.

Organiser Dr Paloma Gay y Blasco, said, “This event will bring together the top specialists in the world on Roma issues from across a range of disciplines – anthropology, cultural and film studies, political science – as well as film directors . Its aim is to study how the Roma are represented and represent themselves across a whole range of arenas, from films to museums or political activism. The aim is to produce a cutting-edge contribution to current debates about the place of the Roma in European society, and about the future of ethnic and cultural diversity in the contemporary world.”

All of the showings will be attended by the directors of the films, with some being available for Q&A sessions afterwards. Katrin Seybold will attend the screening of ‘The False Word’, a 1987 film based on the extermination of Roma in Germany, which will be shown on Saturday. Michael Stewart will be available for questions after Sunday afternoon’s screening of ‘What Magdalensa said’, a film about the current persecution of Roma in the Czech Republic. Sunday will also see ‘Black and White in Color’, a 2002 Czech film being attended by director Mira Erdevicki. ‘Black and White in Colour’ is a musical documentary about the remarkable Romani singer Vera Bila.

The final film to be shown (on Sunday night) is ‘The District’, a witty and hilarious animation feature about love and multiculturalism in Budapest.

All film screenings – free of charge and open to the public – will take place in School III, St Salvator’s Quadrangle, North Street, St Andrews. The full listings are:

Saturday 24th March, 2007

1.30 pm Songs for Heaven (on Spanish Gitanos; Spain, 2003; Spanish with French subtitles).

2.30 pm A Lamented Death (on Transylvanian Roma; Romania, 2005, Romanian with English subtitles).

5.30 pm The False Word (on the extermination of the Roma; Germany, 1987; German, Sinti and Romanes with English subtitles) Followed by question and answer session with director Katrin Seybold.

Sunday 25th March, 2007

2.00 pm What Magdalena Said (on Czech Roma; UK 1993; English, Romanes, Czech, Slovakian with English subtitles). Followed by a question and answer session with director Michael Stewart.

5.00 pm Black and White in Color (on Czech Roma; UK 2002; Romanes, Czech, with English subtitles). Followed by a question and answer session with director Mira Erdevicki.

8.00 pm The District! Great animation film! (Hungary, Lichthof Productions 2004, Hungarian and Romanes, with English subtitles).

For more information please visit: http://www.st- andrews.ac.uk/philosophy/anthropolo gy/workshops/roma/index.html

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS: FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT DR GAY Y BLASCO ON 01334 462950 or [email protected]

Issued by Press Office, University of St Andrews

Contact Gayle Cook, Press Officer on 01334 467227 / 462529, mobile 07900 050 103, or email gec3@st- andrews.ac.uk

Ref: Representation of Romanis 220307.doc

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