21.10.2022

AKE DIKHEA? - 6TH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ROMANI FILM IN BERLIN

On 24 October, the 6th AKE DIKHEA? International Roma Film Festival begins in Berlin, on the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of the Memorial to the Murdered Sinti and Roma of Europe.

On this occasion, the festival takes a critical look at today's culture(s) of remembrance in Germany and Europe.

‚Ake Dikhea?' means "Do you see?" in Romany.

From 24-30 October there will be a total of ten slots with film screenings as well as performances, discussions and a drop-in Doc Lab. The 6th AKE DIKHEA? presents current works by predominantly young film and culture makers with a focus on contemporary culture(s) of remembrance. A jury selects the Best Film and Best Short Film, the audience votes for the Audience Award.

One of the highlights of the festival is the documentary "Time of Silence and Darkness" by filmmaker Nina Gladitz, who died in 2021. One of the many examples in film of exclusion against Roma and Sinti. It shows extremely rare testimonies of Sinti Holocaust survivors that were recorded by the filmmaker in the early 1980s and stored in the closed archives of the WDR for forty years. The reason was a court case brought by the director Leni Riefenstahl, who collaborated with the Hitler regime.

The JFBB feels a special affinity with the festival - we know from our own experience the balance between making cinematic memory the central theme, finding new and coherent forms for it again and again, and at the same time not allowing ourselves to be reduced to it. Having to deal with audiovisual stereotypes and narrow narratives when curating, but not letting them determine the programme decisions either - there are many similar experiences and commonalities.

With panel events such as the panel „Remembrance Culture(s) and Film“ on 25 October and an extensive international film programme, AKE DIKHEA? addresses precisely these issues, scrutinises mechanisms and motivations of today's culture of remembrance and thus strengthens them - and above all advocates for new perspectives and promotes a young film community on the rise with formats such as the "Avazya - Filmmakers' Network Kick-Off" on 27 October.

We wish you a successful festival!

Information and programme at: https://akedikhea.com