This roundtable is an important part of this year's Roma focus at Verzió, offering an exceptional opportunity to jointly examine the productive encounters between different artistic disciplines (film, visual arts, theatre) through the work of the invited participants. Following an introductory lecture by art historian Tímea Junghaus, we will reflect together on the international and Hungarian experiences of the institutionalisation of Roma culture. What practical results have emerged recently from collaborations between “majority” institutions organising major visual arts events (such as documenta in Kassel, OFF-Biennale, the Cannes Film Festival and the European Film Academy) and ERIAC? What are the experiences regarding the issues outlined in the introductory lecture? Where, what and how should things be further improved?
Tímea Junghaus's keynote:
The next paradigm shift in European documentary cinema is not about improving the representation of marginalized communities, but fundamentally transforming who controls the image, the narrative, and the means of production. Drawing on two decades of curatorial and institutional work, from grassroots Roma cinema to the Cannes film market, Timea Junghaus challenges the documentary tradition of speaking about communities rather than enabling them to define their own cinematic languages. Decolonizing or revolutionising film in Central and Eastern Europe requires more than visibility or inclusion: it demands a redistribution of authorship, resources, institutional power, and the authority and creativity to imagine the future.