AMARO KINO at Kyiv International Short Film Festival | A Traveling Program of Recent Roma Short Films
The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) is partnering with the Kyiv International Short Film Festival 2025 for the screening of AMARO KINO – a carefully curated selection of films that centres Roma voices, stories, and artistic visions.
The Kyiv International Short Film Festival (KISFF) is the largest short film festival in Ukraine, dedicated to celebrating the art of short films in all their forms.
AMARO KINO is a new traveling short film program initiated by the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) that speaks to the richness and complexity of Roma life today, from intimate portrayals of identity and belonging, to bold forms of resistance, memory, and imagination.
The program brings together recent short films created by Roma filmmakers and artists who work closely with Roma communities. This program is created for festivals, cinemas, and cultural platforms that are committed to representation, dialogue, and diversity and inclusion.
A Traveling Program of Recent Roma Short Films at the Kyiv International Short Film Festival 2025
OMARA
Director: Abel Santa
Country: Hungary, USA
Duration: 8
The world through the eyes of gypsy painter Mara “Omara” Olah. The film tells her story of moving into a new village, the hatred and judgement she faced as a minority resident, and how she overcame these with wit and resilience.
9/8FIGHT41
Director: Gizem Aksu
Country: Turkey
Duration: 29
Rukeli Trollmann was exposed to many forms of discrimination by the Nazi regime because of “boxing by dancing like Gypsy”. Inspired by the fight of Rukeli Trollmann, the film traces the artist’s experience of immigration to Berlin and the fight for justice in Istanbul.
CHAVO
Director: Alecio Araci
Country: Sweden
Duration: 15
Tommy’s grill is a meeting place for the Romani community. Here a tightly-knit but motley crew of people gather to eat and talk. When a lone man visits the restaurant one evening, rumors begin to spread and Tommy is forced to revist traumatic memories.
THE LIFE AND MIRACLES OF SAINT NICODEMUS OF TISMANA
Director: Liviu Bărbulescu
Country: Romania
Duration: 8
The Life and Miracles of Saint Nicodemus of Tismana” by Liviu Barbulescu is a documentary disguised as a humorous animation. Barbulescu’s film tragicomically combines the colorful visual style of old Romanian naïve church painting with cut-out animation to shed light on the forgotten history of the Orthodox Church’s involvement in the enslavement of the Roma* in Romania. The film initially poses as a comedy about the unusual miracles of St. Nicodemus, a 14th century monk, including turning a pork steak into fish, floating across the Danube on his staff and cursing a village, only to gradually reveal to the audience the true legacy of St. Nicodemus of Tismana.