Our indomitable Ella continues to forge ahead, criss-crossing Hungary and the encountering the difficulties of both positive and negative stereotypes. Here are some of her thoughts.

In Szekszard, people own vineyards. One is not form Szekszard if he does not have a vineyard.
We went to bohyhad at the cultural center. The hall filled in fast. after the screening we talked, I taped some. It is tiresome to hear again and again how musically gifted are Gypsy people. Of course they are comparatively gifted if this is encouraged. No one encourages their gift for speaking, so they can cultivate that and become lawyers and politicians and what not, no, let them cultivate their traditions that is carve teknok, I forgot how to say that, wooden basins, and weave baskets, that is their tradition. Meanwhile we shall be doctors and IT people, and presidents and politicians, that is our tradition, you Roma people keep on waving baskets. By the end of the screening and discussion, they would not go home, they stayed outside the building smoking yacking away. I was tired, woke up at 5 am to make it for the train. A lady then descended on me to sell her work with hatranyos hejzetu kids, everybody works for hatranyos hejzetu/disadvantaged children and everybody is a social worker and activist. At least those whom I meet. I wonder why not much progress is made then? Or it is but not visible yet.

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A GIANT T H A N K Y O U !
to everyone who so generously supported us & made it possible for us to meet our Kickstarter funding goals!
Sorry we've been out of touch; we've had a few small technical difficulties, but our Hungarian Outreach is going strong with screenings almost twice a day every day this month!
So many wonderful new people have come into our project with such fantastic and lovely stories, this as been an added inspiration to forge ahead with more strength & create a worthy piece!

;-)

Jasmine: We’re still making several stops a day — and we’ve only got 4 more days to raise the rest of our kickstarter funding!
Meanwhile, here are a few of the people we’ve met:



Bela Bartok Street is a Romani neighbourhood of Alsozsolca where Helsinki Watch reported incidents of racist violence against Roma. We stopped and spoke to a group of Roma who said that they can never get any officials to pay attention to their complaints or crimes against them. Then we went to meet the mayor, a woman who agreed to help organize a screening of our film later in August -- where Roma and non-Roma will be invited to attend together. And we met with local representatives of the Roma self-government... They said that they were particularly inspired by Martin Luther King and civil rights films, and when Obama was elected they started to believe that maybe Roma can succeed as well! At the end of our meeting they were asking about Roma in the USA, so we phoned my friend George Eli in Connecticut and they had a short chat.
Everyone seems to agree that education is key. Roma need school education, and the rest of us need to learn to be less prejudiced



In Sajokaza, I was very moved visiting a school run for Roma on Buddhist principles. Tibor Derdak showed us around – it’s only been going for 3 years and they already have 300 students. This summer they did an integrated summer school for the first time. Non-Roma students came to study for a week with Roma students – at the beginning they wrote about their fears of being with Gypsies. At the end they cried as they said goodbye to their new friends and they said that they couldn’t understand why they had never spoken to these lovely people before. They have been neighbors for many generations.



The surrounding Romani neighborhood is very poor – a thousand people live with 3 water pumps, one garbage tip (which authorities collect only once a month), and very few opportunities for employment. The children all welcomed us with big grins. I hope the school will give them opportunities their parents could not have dreamt of. We’ll be back here to show the film after their summer holidays. The evening was a screening to Romani members of folk dance troup in Satoraljaujhely – and then they performed for us and talked about the differences between their dance and the musicians in the film.This morning we were in prison. A high security prison where 70% of inmates are Roma. They spoke about the need for education, the need for opportunities, and the need for change from inside their communities – to believe that they can do something good in society.

Onwards....

This is it! We've hit the road in Hungary and our journey began on Sunday, August 1st in Budapest...Our first few days so far....

August 1

While Gypsy Caravan played at the ERRC summer school, Director Jasmine Dellal had time to sneak out for a few moments and observations:

FYI, I’m actually sitting outside the room of our first screening of the Hungary trip. It’s a lot of Roma young adults who are training to do human rights work. They stood and put their hands on heart as the anthem played.... And have been laughing and dancing and clapping through the film. It’s incredibly rewarding. Of course, this screening is a bit of “preaching to the converted” compared to some others that we have planned (at right wing nationalist organisations), but it still feels worthwhile to see all these guys looking so proud and motivated to speak up for their people. I passed through London yesterday and the front page of the Daily Express had a huge headline GYPSY CHILDREN SENT TO LOOT UK. Can you imagine if Bernie Maddoff’s activities spawned a headline like JEW SWINDLES WORLD. I don’t want to defend the criminals, but I get so angry seeing a whole race tarred with the brush of a few criminals (who then don’t even get the option to go to school or get jobs because their whole race is spurned). Argh.

Anyway, it’s nice to know that things are starting off well.

More soon...

August 2

Jasmine: ..A ceremony alongside the Danube to commemorate Roma who died during the Porrajmos (“Devouring”), or Holocaust. There were a couple of hundred Roma, lots of activists, and Government and Embassy officials. Our new BBC radio pal introduced us to some people and seems to want to encourage any good word about Roma because of all the racism he sees here.

And we met the inimitable Omara!!! If you were here, you’d see why I put a few exclamation marks! This Romani artist had her paintings in the Venice Biennale – and she has enough stories to easily fill a thousand and one nights. If we could bottle her energy, there’d be no more need for oil wells. At the end of the night she gave me a small painting which shows her arriving somewhere by taxi – a few years ago she arrived at a luxury hotel and was accused of coming there to steal, so now she goes everywhere by taxi. Only by taxi!

August 3

Jasmine: Before we left for the countryside this morning, our friend (and great filmmaker) Peter Forgacs called me to say that I must film good images while we travel because, he insisted, the Roma in Hungary are living somewhere between the middle ages and the third world. There is up to 90% unemployment in many Romani areas. They have little access to housing, education or job possibilities. Of course there is the consequent criminality, and prejudice from the inside and out. And he wanted me to remember that it is only likely to get worse now that there is a more right wing government in power.

I’m currently poaching wifi in tiny village of fruit-pickers where there is a school that is now showing my film to Romani villagers: a wonderful young teacher and community organizer, a few farmers, a drunk father, a lot of kids, a beautiful 29 year old woman pregnant with her third kid (not shocking in terms of age, but they're all so stunning), and a couple of dozen others. We're showing the film from our ancient laptop and a new projector (bought in Hungarian shopping mall today - its very own adventure!)


It feels like the journey has begun – and it’s gratifying that we are already so welcomed.


Oh, one more note, when I say “we”.... Our team has grown – not just myself and Ella, but now we are joined by Zsofia who volunteered to help us over the internet, and by John Henderson who we met through Kickstarter!! He came on as a backer a few weeks ago in outraged response to a rather racist comment about this project. Now he’s helping with everything from organizing to map reading. Thanks Kickstarter!!

We pause today & remember the many Romani people who lost their lives sixty years ago on August 2nd & 3rd in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

We reflect, but we also must direct our thoughts into actions wherever and however we can to shift the perceptions, change the attitudes, as well as abandon policies which perpetuate the prejudice against the Roma, which continues even now....