Roma settlement of Kirtimai is regularly portrayed in the media as a “drug nest”, and the inhabitants of the settlement are accused of being unable to be a part of civilized society. Having much negative experience with national and local press, the Roma of Kirtimai are now being very closed from the rest of the society, which makes inclusion even more problematic. Using the participatory video methods five young members of this Roma community will their own story of life in this settlement and share their daily experiences, challenges and dreams.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Vilnius
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
The 5 young people from the Roma community of Kirtimai will take a leading role in the project. They will create the story and do all the filming. The idea of the film is coming from these leaders and is supported by the majority of the community. With this project the young people hope to achieve a more balanced view of their community on national and international levels.
The Roma community as a whole, and specifically the part of it living in Kirtimai, has through many years faced consistent discrimination. Recently this discrimination has manifested itself especially actively in the online media through both articles and internet comments from readers.
The PI Roma Community Centre will support the young people with facilities, expertise and administration.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
The team of young people will be consulted and assisted by Andrejus Timko, a professional filmmaker, who will provide both initial training in shooting and the consultations on demand during the shooting process.
http://www.youtube.com/user/andrejtim
https://www.facebook.com/Tim.Co.Studios
The administrative work on project management, finances etc will be carried out by the PI Roma Community Centre in charge of its Director Svetlana Novopolskaja.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roma-Community-Centre/
The post-production distribution will be assisted by Project Manager Ana Rozanova, a board member of the online platform Roma Virtual Network and has a wide international network of contacts.
https://www.facebook.com/roma.virtual.network
https://www.facebook.com/ana.rozan0va
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The participants will focus on producing a short (up to 30 min) video, entitled “I have a dream” about their life and experiences in Kirtimai, but also about their hopes and dreams, with the special emphasis on the optimism and way to improve the conditions.
Video is also a medium, which is convenient to share online using many different platforms. In addition to sharing it online, it will be tried to share it through film festivals, though this is not the primary objective of the project.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established or plan to establish that will contribute to the success of the project.
PI Roma Community Centre has connections with various Roma and non Roma organizations and platforms around Lithuania and Europe. It is a part of Lithuanian League for Human Rights and has a strong working relationship with the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Lithuania.
It also benefits from good connections with several journalists in the mainstream media.
One of the staff members (Ana Rozanova) is a Board member of the largest Roma-related online news dissemination platform, and also has strong connections with the international organizations such as Council of Europe, who can be involved in the dissemination.
All these connections will be used in dissemination of the project.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
There will be 5 main participants involved in the process. During the process they might involve other community members in their work.
The participation of these participants will be consistently supported with structured development and growth activities, offered to improve their skills based on their interest.
RCC will offer its premises, and the editing company will offer both regular and on-demand consultation and tutorials on filming and, if needed, editing the materials.
As the initiative in this project is coming solely from the participants themselves, it is strongly expected that this motivation will remain through the duration of the project.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
The video will be produced using Participatory Video method, which both Roma Community Centre and editing and video production company “Tim & Co Studios” have knowledge and experience of.
The method was chosen by the participants themselves, who believe that this will be the most powerful tool to counteract the current prejudice, dominant in the mainstream media.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
The Roma Community Centre has 3 main rooms, one of which has 4 computers, which use ADSL connection. Another room would be used for shooting workshops and on-demand consultations.
What is your current relationship with the community with whom you plan to work? What makes you the most appropriate individual or organization to implement this project?
PI Roma Community Centre has been working with the Roma community of Kirtimai for already over 10 years and is well known and familiar to the members.
The team of film makers are young people from the community, who will be able to present their life, daily and major challenges and hopes better than anyone from the outside.
The editing company “Tim & Co Studios” has worked with the Roma community on several previous projects and has a good working relationship with the group of film-makers, which will allow creating a relaxed and productive atmosphere of trust.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The main challenge, which the project is expected to face, is the distrust of the Roma community of the media. It is planned that the group of film makers, who are themselves members of this Roma community will have to assign a period of time before the start of actual shooting to specific community work: spread the awareness among the members of Roma community on their aims and goals, and to involve the community as much as possible in the process as participants, to share their stories, dreams and experiences.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
The project has a set of targets to be achieved:
– The film was screened in one of the main cinemas of Vilnius (screening followed by a discussion)
– The film achieved a minimum of 1000 single views on YouTube
– The film was disseminated through Roma Virtual Network
– Links to the film were posted on minimum 5 Facebook or Twitter pages of international organizations
– Links to the films were shared by at least 10 individual activists
– Film reviewed by 1 Lithuanian film review blog
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
First half of June 2014 – Group and community meetings, planning the scenes and gathering the ideas
Second half of June 2014 – Workshops on shooting and using the equipment
July-August 2014 – Shooting (including the on-demand additional consultations and workshops)
September 2014 – Editing the materials (joint activity of the film makers and professional editing company)
November 2014 – Presentation of the final result in the cinema in Vilnius, combined with active online participation (online streaming of discussion, using Twitter for questions from the audience outside the cinema)
November-December 2014 and further on – online dissemination using the network of Roma and non-Roma activists, Roma Virtual Network platform, other online platforms, building links with national media and international organizations, such as European Commission and Council of Europe.
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Requested budget:
Equipment (1 digital video camera) 900 USD
Meals and transport of the participants (in form of daily allowance) 400 USD
Editing and final production of the film 800 USD
Costs of screening and reception in one of the cinemas 300 USD
Total requested budget: 2400 USD
Contribution of the PI Roma Community Centre:
Venue and use of computers
Management and administration (including accountant)
Dissemination
Contribution of “Tim & Co Studios”:
Initial training and on-demand consultation
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
The additional support we hope and expect from the Rising Voices is assistance with distribution of our produced video and in achieving the widest dissemination possible.
Contact name
Ana Rozanova
Organization
PI Roma Community Centre
