#me.Rom: New series of ROMEA TV interviews delivers authentic stories of Romani people living in the USA

“Just like in Bohemia, there are certain prejudices in the American environment about who ‘Gypsies’ are, the term for Roma that remains rather widespread here. In these interviews, we want to bring the lives of specific people into focus. We want to show that the Romani people are not just those who are presented, for example, in ‘My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding’, a reality show full of stereotypes, but that Romani people here have various stories worth sharing,” Bikár told news server Romea.cz.

“I am also very glad that thanks to Petra Gelbart, who interviews these respondents, it was possible to film with them in English, Czech, Romanes and Slovak,” Bikár explained, adding that the interviews have been subtitled in both Czech and English. Gelbart, who emigrated from Bohemia with her parents to the USA at the age of 10, explains her personal involvement: “Although we regularly travel to Bohemia and Slovakia to visit our family, I try to maintain relationships with Romani people here [in the US], too, because I do consider it important for myself and my children. Thanks to this filming, I was able to meet up again with my acquaintances and friends and hear from them a bit.”

“We managed to raise the money for this interview series from the American foundation Bader Philanthropies. We’re very glad about it, because thanks to this support, materials have been produced that can be positively received by viewers in both the Czech Republic and the USA,” said Zdeněk Ryšavý, director of the ROMEA organization.

The first episode of the unique series #me.Rom was released today on the ROMEA TV online channels and on the website of Romea.cz.