Roma Cinema Youth Project Erasmus Project

Project Title

Roma Cinema Youth Project

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Creativity and culture; Romas and/or other minorities

Project Summary

The situation of European Roma communities continues to be critical in Europe today. The impact of government initiatives and policies will always be limited as long as the root causes of exclusion: stereotypes and racism are not tackled. The project Focus : Roma cinema youth project drew on the power of culture and films to fight for human rights. It is challenging both negative and positive/exotic stereotypes of the Roma communities by promoting grass-roots cinema from inspiring filmmakers.

Partners
The Roma Cinema Youth Project gathered 3 organizations working in very different complementary ways on Roma youth empowerment:
– Somany (FR)
– Romawood (KS)
– Phiren Amenca European Network / RGDTS (HR)

Context

The project addressed three main issues

1/Initiatives from organization tackling the production of collective’s narratives about Roma Culture and identities remain scattered, and often based on stereotypes both negative or positive/exotic as well as produced by non-Roma.
2/Many projects youth project are blending Culture with non-formal education but are either -carried out by non-formal education sector “using” art only as a “tool” with rather poor artistic outcome and thus potential of dissemination-carried out by cultural workers / artist lacking pedagogical methods
3/Films, and videos and online new media are a very powerful medium to empower, shape representation and challenging imaginaries. There is today a challenge in developing creative and digital competence of youth workers, educators, trainers, and teachers. And to finish with: independent films offering alternative narratives often are not accessible.

Objectives of the project
The strategic partnership has, as a starting point, the unique expertise and resource of the Rolling Film Festival, a festival in Kosovo running since 2009 and broadcasting films made by & about Roma. Along its fourth editions, Rolling Film Festival builds up incredible resources that remain mostly inaccessible.
The “Focus! Roma youth cinema project” organized, improved, updgraded, developed and disseminated these resources.

Specific objectives of the project
*Increase the number of quality transformative spaces, events and screening related projects of all kinds using the power of films/video blended with non-formal education for combating stereotypes and racism against Roma.
* Increase the quality of educational programmes designed around those spaces contributing to empowerment, participation of Roma youth and intercultural dialogue, design new tools and methods
*Create a supportive trans sector network on this theme to enhance cooperation & cross-fertilization
*Challenge the media and cinema’s role in creating (and maintaining) the exotic image of the Roma and reach out to media, policy maker and other multipliers/ stakeholders’ attention about it.
*Put Roma youth in a position to produce, curate and promote audio-visual content showing the diversity and plurality of their own identities and culture

Activities
3 transnational cooperation meetings
1 staff-training activity
1 intellectual output production

Description of the intellectual output produced
We created on online plateform called ” Roma cinema resources center”
www.romacinema.org
What you will find on the resources center :
1. A database of films featuring 100 films made by and about Roma selected by Roma & non-Roma youth targeting especially the education, film and youth sectors;
2. Education screening kits for 10 films on 9 topic that educators/film professionals can freely download to help design an educational program around the screening;
3 A five-day training curriculum for youth workers; « FOCUS ! Movies to challenge preconception »
4. A Manual ” Tips on how to organize film screenings ”

– 1 international dissemination event in Budapest
– Local event in France, Kosovo and Hungary

Participants
1490 direct beneficiaries’ : participants to the activities project or visitors on the website
190 000 people indirectly impact by the project

Longer-term benefits.
-For Roma youth and Roma community: more balance, diverse / fair resources on own ‘culture: empowerment, self-confidence & pride / inclusive elaboration of new narratives
-For education (formal and non-formal sectors) and cultural sector: improve quality of work (projects, events, trainings) and cross-sector cooperation / fertilization

-For media, political representative and a decision makers: Increase awareness about the need of addressing more assertively held stereotypes about Roma drawing on the power of culture/ art / on majority’s representation and the importance of self-production of narratives

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 57927 Eur

Project Coordinator

Somany & Country: FR

Project Partners

• RGDTS ROMA GADJE PARBESZED AZ ONKENTES SZOLGALAT ALTAL NONPROFIT KFT
• Romawood