New dates announced for CineRoma in Govanhill

Southside Film Festival has worked with Govanhill based Roma charity Romano Lav’s youth group to select a programme of award-winning films from around the world along with UK premieres.

At the launch event on Friday, September 27, Romano Lav and Southside Film will discuss the significance of a Roma film festival and the role of cinema in promoting Roma culture, and will screen a short film made by the Romano Lav youth group to launch CineRoma. Each film will also be preceded by a short film explaining why it has been chosen and a “living trailer” made by the team behind CineRoma. The first film will be Korkoro, a cinematic tribute to the Roma killed in the Holocaust and an ode to life lived freely.

There are a further two screenings on Saturday, August 28, including: Our School, a touching story shot over four years following a group of Roma children involved in a school desegregation project and the moving documentary, and Taikon, about one of the most important and inspiring advocates of human rights in 20th Century Europe, a Roma woman called Katarina Taikon.

On Sunday, August 29, there will be a screening of An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, a deeply moving portrayal of family and love under crushing institutional racism, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013. The festival closes with Carmen & Lola, a 2018 Spanish drama about two young Roma women who fall in love, incurring the wrath of their communities and turning their families against them.

All screenings take place in Bike For Good (South) and are un-ticketed, entry is by donation.

CineRoma is supported by Regional Screen Scotland’s Challenge Fund and South East Integration Network (SEIN).

Aileas Pringle, Southside Film’s CineRoma festival coordinator, said: “It is exciting to see such an important part of the Govanhill community acknowledged and represented on screen. Working on CineRoma has been a very enriching experience for us all, as we’ve discovered so many fantastic stories through selecting films for the programme. CineRoma is a great opportunity for the people of Govanhill, the wider Southside and whole city Glasgow to share these stories and to learn something new about the Roma community”.

Ashli Mullen, Project Coordinator for Romano Lav, said: “We are thrilled to work with Southside Film to present CineRoma. We strongly believe that cinema has a crucial role to play in challenging stereotypes and promoting Roma culture. Through the process of creating this film festival, our young people have been exposed not only to new genres, mediums, and ways of seeing, but have been empowered to take control of their own representation, through a series of film-making workshops and the production of a documentary, as well as their innovative ‘living trailers’ for each film. Further, as we observed at our joint screening of ‘Black Cat, White Cat’ at the main Southside Film Festival in June, these events have the capacity not only to entertain and inspire, but to create space for the deepening of solidarities amongst our diverse local communities and the forging of new ones along the way. We look forward to further collaborations”.

CineRoma Programme at a Glance:

Friday 27 September 18:30

CineRoma Launch Event with food & music & Korkoro

Korkoro (Not Certified – age 12 advised, 111 mins, 2009)

A cinematic tribute to the Roma killed in the Holocaust and an ode to life lived freely.

Food and music from 18.30, film 19.50 - 21.40

Saturday 28 September 15:30

Our School (Not Certified – PG advised, 94 mins, 2011) followed by Q&A

Our School’ is a touching story shot over four years following a group of Roma children involved in a school desegregation project.

Doors: 15.00, Film 15.30 - 17.30

Followed by Music from Gypsy Lexus and food 17:30 - 18:00

Saturday 28 September 19:00

Taikon (Not Certified – U advised, 90 mins, 2015)

This documentary tells the story of one of the most important and inspiring advocates of human rights in 20th Century Europe, a Roma woman called Katarina Taikon who lived from 1932 to 1995.

Doos 18:30, Film 19.00 - 20.45

Sunday 29 September 15:30

An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (Cert 12, 72 mins, 2013)

In this film, made in 2013, we follow the story of Senada and Nazif, a Roma couple in Bosnia who come up against enormous challenges in accessing the healthcare that pregnant Senada desperately needs.

Doors 15:00, Film 15.30 - 16.50

Followed by food and music 17:00 - 18:00

Sunday 29 September 19:00

Carmen and Lola (Not Certified – 12 advised, 103 mins, 2018)

This 2018 Spanish drama film is about two young Roma women who fall in love, incurring the wrath of their community and turning their families against them.

Doors 18:30, Film 19.00 - 21.15

For full film and event info please go to Southside Film