A new Romani-language animated film with moving real-life stories of Romani women will premiere in the city next month.
‘Gelem, Gelem’ is a Romani-language animated short film that will debut on 18 December and is directed by Adelina Court, a lecturer at Salford University.
The project – led by the University of Salford and the KaskoSan Roma charity – promises a moving collage of real-life stories shared by a group of women based in Oldham.
Adelina Court, lecturer in 3D Design at the University of Salford, illustrated and directed the film, which offers insights into their journeys from Eastern Europe, heritage and lives in the UK.
Across six workshops, the Roma women were guided to narrate stories from their own lives and those of their families, including their journeys to the UK.
Ms Court said: “The Romani women have been very brave to open up and share their stories and were really proactive in participating in the workshops.
“Being able to converse with the group in their native language has been a huge advantage, not to mention the shared links we have to Eastern Europe.
“It just shows that if you give Romani women a safe space to share their stories, they are happy to open up and let you in.”
Throughout six separate workshops, Adelina guided the women through storytelling and drawing, while also conversing with them in Romanian and Hungarian.
At the forefront of this community was Maria Palmai, Head of Roma Women’s Programmes at Kaskosan, who played a pivotal role in managing a weekly women’s group which was delivered in collaboration with the University of Salford.
Maria Palmai said: “These are real stories of traditional women whose stories are not usually heard or shared – this has been their first ever occasion to share their own realities in their home language, which is completely invisible to the outside world.”
“It means a lot to them as they have been extremely isolated in their life to date – we are all very proud that we had an opportunity to share our voice.”
Kaskosan is a Roma charity that produces films, dramas, art performances and Romani language cultural workshops to inspire critical thinking in terms of Roma inclusion – they have spent the last nine years working with the Ursari Roma community in attempts to challenge stereotypes.
The film is narrated in Romani by young community members, Florin B and Estera B, with English subtitles. It includes a vocal rendition of Gelem Gelem, the Romani anthem written by Zarko Jovanovic and performed by community member Cristina B.
The rendition features live instruments – including violin, oral bass and guitar – performed by Juice Vamosi and Istvan Kate. Sound design was created by Paul Robinson, lecturer in Popular Music and Recording, with music graduate Josh James assisting with sound engineering for the score and and vocals recorded at New Adelphi studios. The animation also features contributions from current MA Animation students, Leslie Kara and Gajalakshmi (Sofi) Ganapathi.
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in the UK are the least liked community every year, as measured by YouGov.
Juice Vamosi, who works with the Roma community, said: “We are chasing the wolves of anti-gypsy-ism with our charity, and we are trying to make the invisible visible. We are representing the traditional Gypsy communities, as some Gypsy, Roma and Traveller organisations do not actually depict the reality of the communities we work with.”
Adelina Court said: “Working with Kaskosan Roma charity has been great as they have really helped me access the community. The best part was drawing some of the Eastern European landscapes which I recall from my own experience in the region. The animation is really universally appealing because it is a medium people can relate to, regardless of age or background. Everyone loves stories, you don’t need to have any prior knowledge.”
‘Gelem, Gelem’ will premiere in Oldham on December 18th in the presence of the women whose stories were told, and KaskoSan Roma charity.
Visit Eventbrite to book your free tickets.
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