Romedia Foundation has led a summer camp workshop for young Roma from Szendrőlád (a small settlement in North-Western Hungary) in the summer of 2012. The summer camp, organized by the Bhim Rao Association, took place nearby the lake Velence, in ideal summer settings, but suitable also for the activities related to the project. The workshop held by Romedia had as its aim to bring to life different film creations, developed and carried out entirely by the young Roma participants, numbering approximately 30 Roma teenagers.
In light of these objectives, the participants were divided into two groups, and were assigned two different topics that served as a basis for the creations. The first group had as their inspiration the heroic life-story of the young Sinti boxer Johann Trollmann, perished under the rule of Nazi Germany, who, throughout his entire professional life as a boxer, represented the fight against the injustice of racism with the weapons of true talent and strong will. The young Roma participants, after in-depth analysis of the personal story of Johann, created a short documentary film based on his life. During the making of the film, they re-lived Johann’s difficulties to achieve his goals in a racist, hostile environment, and the continuous threat that he had to experience for not giving up his dreams. Not only had they played the characters of the film, but they had also directed and shot the movie, which features “archives” played by the participants and interviews with relatives.