{"id":1439,"date":"2014-08-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/08-08-2014-hungarian-film-festival-movies-about-rroma-being-censored\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T15:39:38","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T14:39:38","slug":"08-08-2014-hungarian-film-festival-movies-about-rroma-being-censored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/08-08-2014-hungarian-film-festival-movies-about-rroma-being-censored\/","title":{"rendered":"08.08.2014 Hungarian film festival: movies about Rroma being censored"},"content":{"rendered":"

In September, the Film \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFestival CineFest will take place in the north-Hungarian city of Miskolc. Two \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfilms about the situation of the Rroma were disinvited by the program director, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbecause they have too much political brisance for the local elections that will \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbe held shortly after the festival. The documentary group DunaDock, who submitted \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe two films, states: \u201cprobably they \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfear losing government funding if they show our films\u201d, said Diana Gr\u00f3o from DunaDock \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto the news agency dpa. The festival director told the Hungarian media that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthere would be very well a \u201cRoma program\u201d at CineFest, which would show film \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tportraits of \u201csuccessful Roma\u201d. The festival management did not comment on the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trejected films on Roma. CineFest is among others under the auspices of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmedia agency NMHH, which is often accused of political censorship on behalf of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tright-wing nationalist government\u201d <\/em>(TAZ 2014). Miskolc is a focal point of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsocial conflicts about Roma. The municipal elections will take place on October \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe 12th. The film festival takes place from the 12th to 21st of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember. DunaDock should have expanded the festival with a program series \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cDunaDock Master Class\u201d as a permanent section. The documentary group announced \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto totally cancel their contribution to the festival, given the current \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcircumstances: \u201cThe explanation of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCineFest leadership is incomprehensible to us; according to them the film \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfestival takes place at the time of local elections, thus to avoid political \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconflicts and for security reasons they cannot undertake the presentation of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tany film dealing with the topic of Roma in Hungary; even their usual Roma workshop \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis cancelled. We believe that the documentary film is a medium that helps the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tempathy towards our fellow humans and we find it unacceptable that an \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tindependent filmmaker professional program\u2019s freedom can be restricted by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcurrent politics. Under these circumstances DunaDOCK will not be present at the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCineFest and we have notified already the organisers about our decision\u201d<\/em> (DunaDock 2014). Critical commentators see the disinvitation of the films as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsymptomatic of the ongoing dismantling of democracy in Hungary, at the expense \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof media freedom, the protection of minorities, pluralism and the rule of law (compare \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKleine Zeitung 2014, Pusztaranger 2014, Spiegel 2014).<\/p>\n