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Description
It’s no secret that Bulgaria has vulnerable groups and communities that are a subject of hate speech. Perhaps the Roma community comes first among them, as there are certain negative stereotypes and prejudices against the members of the Roma community, which often result in discrimination and attempts at violating the human and civil rights of the Roma. Discrimination is general, in principle, and refers to collective traits and we believe that to counter discrimination it is necessary to tell the personal stories of the individual members of this community to change public perceptions. The latter idea will benefit both the discriminated Roma minority in Bulgaria and the majority comprising of all the other Bulgarian citizens. The project is directly related to priority 2) Support for Human Rights, as it envisages measures to empower the Roma and specific objective 5) Communication measures to overcome the negative stereotypes towards vulnerable groups of the public that are victims of hate speech because this is what the project attempts to do. The goal will be achieved in the short term by creating and airing on the Bulgarian National Television 10 10-minute-long documentary movies devoted to the little specific member of the large Roma community and by a public presentation and discussion of the best from the series. The project will have impact in the long term through the translation of the movie subtitles into English and the uploading of the movies online with a free access. The organization – applicant will carry out the project independently but will keep on its (unofficial) partnership with the Bulgarian National Television, which will broadcast the project outputs in its television programmes pursuant to the enclosed letter for TV programme engagement.
Summary of project results
Inspired by Vaptsarov''s poem "A Song for Mankind", the team of the Roma World-21st Century Foundation creates 10 short documentaries dedicated to people from the Roma community in Bulgaria. The team places emphasis on fact checks and human experiences revealing the life outlook and destiny of the characters who talk to the camera about themselves and about the twists and turns in their life path. This approach provokes understanding and empathy in the audiences, as a counterpoint to the overall negative public image of the Roma community. The characters are different: ordinary people, but also emblematic representatives of the Roma culture in Bulgaria, such as the poet Sally Ibrahim and Angel Tikhaliev, the creator of the Karandila orchestra. Each story reveals the intimate world of the protagonist(s), while at the same time making generalisations and sending messages to society.
The 10 unique "Songs for Mankind" come to life in the documentary films, which are successively broadcast and repeated for a whole year on the Bulgarian National Television, Channel 1. The films achieved a high rating even when they were first broadcast within the social slot "Small Stories " (634,980 viewers in total) and managed, subsequently, to arouse interest in social networks ( 55,274 YouTube users reached).
Within the project, a website of the foundation was elaborated, it collects the best forms of art created over the years. The project ... "slowly, without malice, humanly" ... is visualised in a separate space on the site, presenting all products (10 documentaries) translated and subtitled in English and opening the possibility for their further promotion. The site''s traffic was also supported by a Facebook campaign launched to promote the project''s public events (reached 49,065 Facebook users).
At the end of the project, the team was able to "transfer" the messages "from the TV" and the Internet to real life through a public discussion and a film screening, which received their dissemination in the public space through media publications and Internet portals.
The Roma World - 21st Century Foundation has agreed with the Bulgarian National Television to repeat the 10 films produced under the project for the period until April 2023 and according to the TV program schedule. This will open up an opportunity to multiply their messages and to reach new audiences within one additional year of presence on national air.