Gypsy Blood

Citizen Miko(cs)

Miko is a truck driver, his father is Romani, and above all he is a man who wanted to help those in need. When the Czech government was looking for reasons not to take in a few dozen children from Greek refugee camps after the chemical attacks on Syrian civilians in 2018, Miko took justice into his own hands and, together with the Czechs Helping initiative, prepared facilities for child refugees. However, government officials gave priority to political interests. Will parliamentary elections and a change of ministries save the situation? An unflattering but accurately portrayal of the Czech Republic as a country that will only offer a helping hand when it is worthwhile.

Leaving to Remain(sk)

With the UK’s hardening immigration policy in the background, director Mira Erdevički follows the lives of three Roma: Petr Torák, Denisa Gannon and Ondrej Oláh. Settled in the UK over 20 years ago, the trio still feel attached to their native Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As the country goes into lockdown, they film their lives throughout the Covid pandemic and the aftermath of Brexit.

Vojta Lavička: Ups and Downs(cs)

Longitudinal documentary film was shot for past 16 years and the main protagonist is Roman musician and activist Vojta Lavička. Vojta is a master in violin play, who focuses not only on music but also deals with problems of his origin Roman nationality. Vojta is very active in media - he worked in the national radio and television, he worked in the NGO that organize street work for Roman ghettos around the Czech republic, Vojta worked also as a social worker. All together we can watch him struggling with the main topic of his life - his national minority and problems that are caused by living next to Czech majority. Aside this topic films discovers Vojta's private life and his fight for being a good musician and a good man.

Acasă, My Home(ro)

In the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, nine children and their parents lived in perfect harmony with nature for 20 years – until they are chased out and forced to adapt to life in the big city.

Break Up(sv)

A short about Romanis in Sweden breaking up camp and moving on.

FC Roma(cs)

A team of Romany football players try to overcome prejudice in this Czech documentary.

Requiem for Auschwitz - the film(nl)

13 years ago, director Bob Entrop made the film A piece of blue in the sky, the first film in the Netherlands that depicted the murder of almost 1 million Sinti and Roma during the Second World War. There is a taboo on what happened during the war, you don't talk about it with anyone and certainly not in front of a camera. Requiem for Auschwitz is a sequel, with the most valuable moments from the first film, supplemented with the grandchildren and the creation and performance of the 'Requiem for Auschwitz' by Sinti composer Roger Moreno Rathgeb by the Sinti and Roma Philharmonic from Frankfurt and a Jewish choir in the Berliner Dom in Berlin, during Holocaust Memorial Day. During his visit to Auschwitz in 2020 with four musicians from the Dutch Accompaniment Orchestra, Roger shows them the places that inspired him.

Helping Mihaela(fi)

A Roma beggar on his knees raises many extreme emotions: guilt, rage, sympathy and frustration. Most people just walk on by, but there is always someone willing to help. In this film, the director follows the confrontations between the Roma beggars from Romania and Finnish people, and is forced to question, over and over again, her own ideas about helping.

O čo ide Idě(cs)

De caballos y guitarras(es)

A musical, and also a reflection on watching, on trying to escape an anthropocentric gaze and also on watching itself in cinema. Featuring mares and horses: Triana, Víctor K, Bambi Sailor, San Special Solano, Buck Red Skin, Onkaia, Cool Boy, the donkey Agostino, the mule Guapa. And also Alfredo Lagos, Raül Refree, María Marín, Pepe Habichuela, Virgina García del Pino, María García Ruiz, Pilar Monsell, María Pérez Sanz.

Loli Kali Shuba(uk)

Prominent Ukrainian/Italian documentary film director Oleksandr Balahura (most known for link) visits Roma neighborhoods and social events in Zakarpattia (Western Ukraine) and re-visits his earlier work, "Widow-Street", shot on same locations in 1991. He also screens "Widow-Street" to its characters, whom he meets again in 2013.

Carmen(fi)

A documentary about a young Finnish Romany Carmen, 11, who lives with her grandmother and aunt in the suburb of a small town in Northern Finland.

RYTMUS Housing Estate Dream(sk)

The film RYTMUS Housing Estate Dream took 8 years to create and closely documents the life of one of the most famous personalities of the Czech-Slovak music scene. Patrik "Rytmus" Vrbovský grew up in an ordinary family in a housing estate in Piešťany and, due to his Roma origin, he often encountered prejudice from his surroundings. Today, he releases albums in tens of thousands of copies, was a Superstar judge, and his videos have been viewed on the Internet by more than 200 million users. The film will also offer exclusive footage from family archives of videos and photographs, supported by personal testimonies from people from Rytmus' closest circle.

All My Children(sk)

Marian Kuffa, a charismatic parish priest and a man of action, with his 'children', former convicts, the homeless, and drug addicts, has embarked on his most difficult mission. He has decided to help the poorest Roma to survive the cold and biting frost in their modest, hastily built dwellings in Roma slums in eastern Slovakia. Together with him, we get acquainted with the Roma ethnic group from a completely different angle.

Brothers of the Night(de)

Soft boys by day, kings by night. The film follows a group of young Bulgarian Roma who come to Vienna looking for freedom and a quick buck. They sell their bodies as if that's all they had. What comforts them, so far from home, is the feeling of being together. But the nights are long and unpredictable.

Heavy Heart(sk)

Documentary film Heavy Heart arose as a part of ethnomusicological research Silalo panori / Cold water (2014 – 2017) of ancient Roma songs. These songs are usually connected with memories and experiences of their interprets. Documentary in a mosaic-like way traces the way of the original Roma music transport to the next generation or also how it ceases to exist under the influence of social changes.

Valentina(ro)

Valentina lives among her extended family in the poor quarters of a Roma neighbourhood in Skopje, Macedonia. The ten-year-old girl is a tomboy and a highly gifted storyteller. To its charismatic heroine, the film is a roaming companion. Via quirky anecdotes, surreal daydreams and painful memories, Valentina introduces us to her family.

Miri fajta(cs)

The central figure of the documentary is Robin Stria, an amateur filmmaker who is trying to create the first Roma sitcom in the Czech Republic. Its title - Miri Fajta - means My Family in Romani, and the Romani creator wants to tell a story about Romani using Romani actors. At the same time, it offers him the opportunity to think more deeply about his identity and show it at a time when the issue of self-awareness is also a problem of representation, because Roma creators are scarce.

When Borat Came to Town(ro)

A look at what happened after Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was filmed in the Romanian village of Glod. It follows the life of one girl who longs to escape the poverty as foreign lawyers arrive with the promise of suing 20th Century Fox for millions of dollars.

The Shutka Book of Records(sr)

A documentary about bizarre residents of Shutka, a Macedonian village built on the former city dump area. Shutka, where everyone is the champion of something. This film is a celebration of the culture, humor, spirit, oddities and idiosyncrasies of the Roma, one of the world's poorest and most persecuted peoples. Ultimately we are instructed in the celebration of life despite any and all circumstances - everyone is of value here.