“In the Romani language, ‘dikhen!’ means ‘take a look!’ – and that’s precisely what we intend to do. We would like to fathom and discuss the field of tension between the view from the outside and self-representation,” says Bernd Buder, the curator of the film series, describing the programme’s approach. The Focus section supplements the often stereotyped views between empathy and outsider perspective with the self-portrayal of Romani film-makers. This sometimes expresses itself in a very pointed way via “their people”. The Macedonian film MANGAVA DISKO PUNK, for example, reveals that punks in the Roma settlement of Sutka also have problems with the older generation. In ANGRY MEN and DER SCHUHPUTZER, the Serbian-German film-maker and professed Romani, Lidija Mirković, explores the life of Roma people between integration and exclusion, granting unusual insights from an insider’s perspective. The same is true of the works created during the youth film workshop of the “Roma” Rolling Film Festival in Pristina (e.g., DING DING LAPTOP, BLOODY BOYS).
In contrast, the Ukrainian contribution LOLI KALI SHUBA and the Moldavan-Romanian co-production ERZÄHLTE BUCHSTABEN show how cultural codes responding to pressure from the outside have become part of a collective survival strategy of Sinti and Roma. Films concerned with the theme of antiziganism highlight the occasional necessity of these strategies: The oppressive documentary LEBEN UND STERBEN IN TANNWALD poses uneasy questions in its attempt solve the death of a young Roma man and confronts the viewer with open racism. The Slovakian Oscar candidate MY DOG KILLER by Mira Fornai – who is also a member of the International Festival Jury this year – is a feature film portraying an alarmingly normal image of everyday life shaped by hatred and violence against the Roma minority. The documentary THE GIPSY VOTE, in turn, tells of social participation – at times with ironic undertones. The film accompanies the Romani Vlado Sendrai during a local election campaign in the eastern Slovakian province.
In addition to the film contributions, theme-related events offer the opportunity to start discussions. Guests of the festival and the Focus programme series include Jacques Delfeld jr., deputy chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and member of the Dialogue Jury, Sami Mustafa, director of the Roma film festival “Rolling Film Festival” Pristina and member of the Short Film Jury, as well as the fine artist and film-maker Damian Le Bas jr. from Great Britain – also member of the Short Film Jury – and the Hungarian producer Katalin Barsony, member of the Dialogue Jury.
Mustafa, Le Bas jr. and Barsony belong to the founding members of the “International Romani Film Commission (IRFC)”. This association of international film professionals originated upon the initiative of the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin and sees its mission in supporting the work of Roma film-makers. In Cottbus, the activities of the initiative and a first joint omnibus film – a series of short clips – will be presented for the first time at an international film festival.
Furthermore, the FilmFestival Cottbus welcomes the Austrian master guitarist and world musician Harri Stojka. In the award-winning travel documentary GYPSY SPIRIT: HARRI STOJKA - EINE REISE, he sets off on a journey to India to explore the origins of Roma music. In the documentary CEJA STOJKA, his mother tells of death and survival during the Roma holocaust. Together with the band GitanCoeur d’Europe, Harri Stojka builds a musical-rhythmic bridge between old traditions and modern beats of the Roma community in the frame of the Focus.
This year, the Focus section is supported by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Further supporters and sponsors of the 23rd FilmFestival Cottbus include the State of Brandenburg, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the City of Cottbus, as well as the First Partners, Vattenfall and the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
Press contact:
Jessica Harmuth | Kristina Krause, Tel +49 355 4310 7 -13/ -14 | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
