20th October 2013, Sunday
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
A short documentary film, Roma – From Huedin to Here, directed by Cork filmmaker Brian Cronin and produced with the support of Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre, will be screened today at 3 PM in Camden Palace Hotel as part of the IndieCork film festival.
Roma – From Huedin to Here explores the story of where the Roma community in Cork came from and their journey to life in Ireland. The majority of Roma currently living in Cork come from the same camp in Romania, which is located on the outskirts of the town of Huedin. The camp was burned down in the 1990s and many of the people living there migrated to Cork, seeking protection and a better life for themselves and their families. The Roma who remain in Huedin live in squalor and deprivation, next to open railway tracks and a dangerous dumping site.
In collaboration with Nasc, the film was directed by Cork filmmaker Brian Cronin, whose RTÉ-funded short Fond of a Moth screened on the opening night of the Cork Film Festival in 2011. The film was produced by Roma activist Greucean Adam and Claire Larkin, who previously worked for Nasc as Roma Rights Officer. The film was supported by funding from Cork City Partnership, the HSE and generous individual donors through FundIt.
Director Brian Cronin notes, “The film is very much focused on the Cork Roma community’s connection to Huedin, taking one individual man’s story as the link back to Romania. It is a unique opportunity to see where the Roma of Cork came from, almost like going back in time to look at the place they sought refuge from and why. In order to better understand the Roma community in Cork, you have to understand where they came from and this film provides a glimpse of that.”
Nasc CEO Fiona Finn adds, “Nasc are delighted to be collaborating with Brian and with the Roma community on this project. The film highlights a unique, extremely tight-knit and very marginalised community. Even though the Roma who live in Cork are every happy to have left Romania, our work in Nasc shows that once here, the Roma people face their own share of hurdles, overcoming discrimination, unemployment and exile – trying to be a part of Irish society while preserving their Roma heritage.”
Tickets for the film are available from the IndieCork box office in The Other Place, North Main Street. For more information, visit IndieCork’s website at: www.indiecork.com.
To view the trailer or to find out more about the work Nasc does to support the Roma community, visit the Nasc website at: http://www.nascireland.org/latest-news/documentary-about-roma-in-cork-to-be-screened-at-indiecork-film-festival/.
