Documentary Double Bill

Everyday Life of Roma Children from Block 71
Ivana Todorovic
Serbia, 2006, 22 mins
Serbian (English sub-titles)

There are 600 squatter settlements in Serbia, the inhabitants of which are mostly of Roma origin. Of these, 105 are in Belgrade with a further 17 in New Belgrade. This young filmmaker has gained remarkable access to one of these settlements and shows the everyday life of the Stankovic family: A Roma family who live behind the skyscrapers of Block 71 in New Belgrade. This is a documentary full of optimism and warmth, and a strong counter to the negative images usually associated with the Roma population.

The Seeds
(Nasiona)
Wojciech Kasperski
Poland, 2005, 27mins
Polish (English sub-titles)

This film gives us an unusually intimate insight into the lives of a family living on the edge of society, in a small village in the beautiful mountains of southern Siberia. The secrets and tragedy of their family history is delicately revealed as we follow them in their struggle to hold their lives together. The film is the work of Wojciech Kasperski, a fourth year student of The Leon Schiller National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz (Poland), and the film is part of the 'Russia and Poland New Gaze' project created by Eureka Media and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in cooperation with the European Documentary Network.