What happens when a history is erased? When centuries of slavery go unnamed, and the wounds they left are buried under silence? In Romania, the enslavement of Romani people—lasting over 500 years—remains largely absent from collective memory. There has been no cultural reckoning, no institutional reflection, no national conversation. But the time for silence is over. The time is now.
This Short Film Day event brings the urgent issue of slavery and its consequences for Romanian society into the spotlight, while at the same time opening the conversation about short film as a tool for empowerment, resistance, and healing. We present a curated program of four powerful short films that give voice to Romani and Romanian perspectives across time and form: from historical reimaginings and biting satire, to intimate documentaries and speculative ritual art.
- Letter of Forgiveness (Alina Șerban, 15 min.) is the first film about Roma slavery written from a Roma perspective and the first film directed by a Roma woman from Romania. It tells the story of slavery through the eyes of a mother fighting for her son’s freedom.
- The Life and Miracles of St. Nicodemus of Tismana (Liviu Bărbulescu, 8 min.) cleverly uses cut‑out animation stylized like Orthodox icons to deliver a tragicomic satire on the Romanian Orthodox Church’s historical role in the enslavement of Romani people.
- I Am Nicu (Alina Șerban, 16 min.) follows a single day in the life of Nicu, a young man bravely navigating the intersections of being a Roma, gay, and an abandoned foster‑child in Bucharest.
- The Future Is a Safe Place Hidden in My Braids (Mihaela Drăgan, 18 min.) A ritualistic, visually striking reclamation of magic and the future by Roma women – a poetic vision of a liberated tomorrow.
The screening of the films is followed by a facilitated discussion with the filmmakers Liviu Bărbulescu, Lisa Smith and Radu Sticlea about the potential, the advantages and limitations of short film as a tool of empowerment and self-representation.