The Deathless Woman (certificate 15) is a film created in response to the virtual erasure of the history of Roma from our cultural memory of the Holocaust. The film is going on tour this summer, alongside workshops led by Roma language expert Juice Vamosi. The tour starts in June to coincide with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, and continues into July – coming to Firvale Community Hub in Sheffield on 2 July.
The Deathless Woman is a hybrid documentary, interweaving theatrical re-imaginings of buried secrets with Romani narration and testimony from survivors and witnesses of historic and contemporary crimes against the Roma in Poland and Hungary. It aims to draws our attention to the persecution of the Roma people from the 1940s to the neo-Nazi hate crimes of the present day. Up to 500,000 Roma are believed to have been killed during WWII, possibly half of the Roma population in Europe at that time. The Roma are still one of the most marginalised minority ethnic groups in Europe. The film's writer-director Roz Mortimer worked with Juice Vamosi and Roma communities in London, Poland and Hungary for over ten years to create the film.
2pm – Romani Language Workshop – book now
Hear the fascinating history of Romani, a language which many are surprised to find is closest to Punjabi or Rajasthani, and learn some words for yourself.
4pm – Film Screening & Discussion – book now
Introduced by Rosa Cisneros, with a chance to discuss the film afterwards with the director.
Rosa is co-creator of Hidden Histories: an exhibition on Roma Holocaust, which was developed after running several workshops with Roma young people and families. The exhibition will be at Millennium Gallery on 19 June as part of Migration Matters Festival.