Baba Jana ‒ eine Heldin des Widerstands

Tasked by Marvel to search for a Roma heroine for their next movie, a group of Romani researchers got down to work. The quest led them to famous names in their Roma community, especially to Baba Jana, a woman whose boldness and courage had saved her child from the gas chambers of the Nazis. In their search, the group encountered a lot of resistance and obstacles but finally uncovered dark secrets.

Discourses on Sinti and Roma women often show a distorted image of them, especially in the media, where racist ideas of begging and criminal activities as prime income sources prevail. The women are depicted as 24/7-birthing machines with more than ten children, and counting. But this is not what their reality is like at all. In this play, Simonida Selimović and the Romani theatre collective set out to explore Romani feminism from the perspective of the women themselves.

“Untold Stories“ refers to little known life stories, experiences and artistic works by Romani artists with the aim to make their diverse and rich culture more visible.

Rom*nja in Power’s vision is to broaden the perspective on art and history to include cultures that have been overlooked so far. They plan to create theatre pieces and films with a focus on representing diverse protagonists to overcome biased perceptions and stereotypes of Romani women and show multidimensional, multi-layered representations created by the community itself.

Produced in cooperation with RomaniPhen e.V- the feminist Romani Archive and Rom*nja in Power Theatre.