1. Citizen Miko (More Miko)
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.
It has an average vote of 2 on TMDB.
2. Leaving to Remain (Odchádzania)
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.
3. Carmen (Carmen)
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.
4. Flames of God
Muzafer Bislim comes up with some of his most insightful songs while sitting on the floor, recording lyrics into a cassette recorder bought at a flea market. A poet and songwriter who collaborates with the biggest names in Romani music, the 54-year old lives a life of modest means with his family in Shutka, Macedonia. Stored in the corner of his one-room house is a tottering, ceiling-high stack of handwritten, 25,000-word, multi-dialect dictionary of the oldest and most obscure words in the Romani language, which he has painstakingly collected over 35 years. When he's invited to the International Biennial of Poets held in Paris, he sees the trip as an opportunity to have his dictionary published. A testament to the endurance of a people who have been scattered across Europe, the dictionary is not only a work of art but also a rare link to a divided past.
5. Heavy Heart (Ťažká duša)
Documentary film Heavy Heart arose as a part of ethnomusicological research Silalo panori / Cold water 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.
6. Helping Mihaela (Kerjäläiselokuva)
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.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
7. Acasă, My Home (Acasă)
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.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
8. Roma Boys – The Love Story (Roma Boys – Příběh lásky)
The film explores the taboo subject of homosexuality within the Roma community through the personal story of a Roma activist who happens to be gay. Though his job has earned him respect among his peers, by coming out his status is in jeopardy. However, the desire to share his complex story prompted him to write a screenplay based on his life. Partly a documentary about his autobiographical script, the film switches between documentary and narrative storytelling. Owing to its distinctive style, the film offers a glimpse into the protagonist's world as he faces triple discrimination: as a Roma, as a gay man, and as a gay man in the Roma community.
9. Friends of the Ghetto (Kamarádi v ghettu)
The young director Tomas Vynikal arrives at the Roma ghetto in search of humanity. With an authentic approach, he finds true friendship, but also human corruption. Everything is kept in the dark when the city of Prerov sells the ghetto together with its inhabitants to a private company for the purpose of new housing construction. This company will only go so far to demolish part of the houses and end up insolvent. The work is also a picture of current social problems in the Czech Republic, where human dwellings are meaninglessly devastated. These inhabitants receive new rental flats from the state, thus another ghetto is being created and society is moving in a catch 22 circle. The film contains time spent from September 2010 to September 2020.
10. The Third End of the Stick (Tretí koniec palice)
Otherness in otherness. What does it mean to be different in a community that is itself excluded from society? The documentary follows the fate of Roma who have become a minority in a minority society. Roma gays and transvestite search for their living space and dream of working abroad. A legless father of five longs for a wheelchair. A Roma grandmother sacrifices her life for the health of her beloved grandson. Will Emil, a Roma man who has found faith in God, be able to save his son from alcohol? Four stories from the poorest Roma settlements in Slovakia aim to break down prejudices between the Roma community and the white majority.
11. The Unpromised Land (Till drömmarnas land)
Sabina has traveled from Romania to the small Swedish town Holmsund with her Roma brothers. They work in a garage and Sabina is looking for a job. Elin, born and raised in Holmsund, is in the church singing at the graduation ceremony. A summer is about to start and Sabina will get to know Elin. Together they will revolt against the old ways and find something new in each other. At the same time the society around them collapses in fear and Elin’s dad becomes insane by sorrow. Because there is a madness in the Swedish idyll.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
12. Kto si bez viny... (Kto si bez viny...)
(Kto si bez viny...)
13. Good Heart (Dobré srdce (Lačho jilo))
The first film ever broadcasted in Roma language on Czech public TV without Czech subtitles. Good Heart is an adaptation of a Roma folk tale recounting an evening in a little cottage house in the countryside.
14. The Marco Effect (Marco effekten)
When a homeless Romani boy is arrested at the Danish border for possession of a missing public servant's passport, police inspector Carl Mørck and Department Q are tasked with finding the connection.
It has an average vote of 5.9 on TMDB.
15. The Garbage Helicopter (Sophelikoptern)
Somewhere in Sweden, a gigantic dumpster breaks free from a heavy chain suspended underneath a big helicopter. The dumpster hits the ground with a formidable crash and the garbage spouts out into the surroundings. Meanwhile, an aging Roma woman wakes up in her house with an extremely strong desire to get her old wall clock back.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
16. Skogskyrkogården (Skogskyrkogården)
A film about the creation of the world cultural heritage Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
17. #JR
At 35 years old, photographer JR is a street art worldwide star. Discovered after the Paris’ suburb riots of 2005 for his portraits of young people, his collages have adorned the galleries of the Louvre, the Pompidou Center, the Pantheon, the National Assembly ever since … From New York to Shanghai, and the Israeli-Palestinian wall to the US-Mexico border, he has stuck or exhibited giant photos on the walls of dozens of countries and associated hundreds of thousands of unknown artists with his projects. With the active collaboration of the artist himself, the documentary “# JR” tells the extraordinary adventure of this art activist whose spectacular interventions are all clear expressions of humanism, pacifism or remembrance relayed by his very strong involvement in social networks. For JR, art can help change the world.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
18. Spirit of the Reindeer (Mjandasj - renarnas rådare)
The third and final part of a trilogy based on Arctic creation myths. The film is a multifaceted tissue weave of myths and traditions reflected in the symbiosis between reindeer, human and landscape.
19. Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice (Tintoretto - Un ribelle a Venezia)
Five hundred years after his birth, the life and career of the Italian Renaissance's last great painter is explored.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
20. There's Always Next Season (There's Always Next Season)
Searching for proof of a two-decade old legend, a first-time director discovers not only a gripping tale of friendship, passion and faded dreams, but one last chance to make things right.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
