What amazes me is that we can now communicate and interact with anyone in the world at any time, yet one of our greatest issues as a society is racial discrimination more so towards people of color. I mean, there has been some progress as compared to the condition of our grandparents and even parents, but we all know it is only baby steps. And am I even able to hint at having wiped out one of the more shameful parts of US and World history? We are also greatly helped in elaborating this premise by the director Kate Ryan with her gripping feature film debut Welcome Nowhere, whose central focus is a group of Roma people contentedly living in repulsive poverty. The film, like most powerful art, makes us look more closely not only at other people but perhaps more so at ourselves, if you can stand the reflection.
To spot the surface essence of Welcome Nowhere could give a passerby the impression to be terribly straightforward: in this film’s instance, gypsies are vilified as ‘undesirable’ members of society tended to through both their own actions and more so by the general populace’s lingering intention which ultimately leads to their ostracization by the society and its fathers in the hopes that these people would miraculously cease to exist. What she does in her film, Ryan says she first got down to this idea better than ten years ago when she came across the crude racism that existed and still exists across various countries in Europe. In an effort to provide a ‘voice’ to those who are ordinarily unheard, ‘give them a soapbox’, she expertly compiles heart wrenching photos, anecdotal powerful testimonies and intimate interviews, the most powerful of which are candid interviews by people who don’t know the camera is on. But most importantly, what makes this documentary different from its peers are the troubling realities that Ryan is personally consumed with, which is to ensure together with all these people’s narratives that there are thousands of examples all over Europe still that need to be told and not silenced.
The Roma people, constructing the building site in Sofia, Bulgaria, are forced out from their utopia into a sad modern dystopia full of broken down boxcars and rock-lined muddy paths. This occurs after an entrepreneurial buyout from the government to create a Walmart alternative in Europe. Over the years the pictures and film of smiling men and women, dry lands being cultivated, and horse carts slowly evolves into a minefield of industrial waste, feces, and childbirth.
Over the span of multiple years, Ryan’s brutal recording depicts a jaw dropping reality as he captures how the well-over 200, diseased, and famished subgroup of Roma wait for the government to aide them, while the government seems to have forgotten aiding them long ago. His recordings illustrate a human condition where their stare into a void, without any hope of aid from the government in sight.
Interviews with citizens from Sophia who appear completely uneducated portray the more sophisticated political ethos of the time, showcasing a kind of racism that creates boxcar communities and subsequently reinforces it through self fulfilling prophecies. In the process Ryan manages to demonstrate to the audience through the relationships he and his crew builds within the Roma community, how these people sorely need aid without appearing extravagant. One case in particular, he illustrates is of a woman named Stefan, who demonstrates the scale of difference underprivileged living can make while simultaneously portraying the harsh reality of being a street sweeper and a resident of a boxcar.
While Stefka gives answers to our questions, they are often expressed silently. Ryan, being soft spoken and shy, puts us in the position of having to act as an interview and illustrates, with pride, the appliances we lifted off elsewhere. It is painful, however very clear, that the Roma in fact are not poor because they are Roma, but simply because there is a group of people, very much like us, who decided that these immigrants are simply ignorant, violent robbers and manipulators. This sentiment could very easily be echoed by someone who has been moved from a McMansion to a house scarcely larger than a suburban garage.
Welcome Nowhere is also an editorial of a different type: It is indeed so and how right it is: We need to change ourselves first. Not just the perception of the world, or people for that matter, but those who are in deep suffering outside of our context, whether it be abroad or at home.
“In Sofia Bulgaria exists a group of Roma Gypsies who live in a train boxcar without basic sanitation. They were placed there by the government over ten years ago and these people are now surviving without help.” [IMDB]
In 2014, Womens’ films were in demand and `Welcome Don’t Go’ was showcased into the NBFF’s Women Direct series whereby hundreds of movies made by women were nominated for feature such as Fort Bliss (dir. Claudia Myers). Following that, prominent directors and other members from Women in Film International and Alliance of Women Directors held a panel discussion which really kicked off skill development for women seeking to enter the film industry.
The Newport Beach Film Festival aims to feature the best of international films in all their forms, both old and modern, from across the globe. Our mission is to educate everyone through an impressive selection of international films and provide new attitudes for discussing culture through the Festival’s unique collection of both independent and mainstream films. The Festival aims to foster the creation of new and artistic works by both young and established filmmakers and at the same time, it takes pride in everything these wonderful people represent: inspiration, creativity, and artistic freedom. By bringing together local communities and schools, the Festival develops interest in the art and study of film for everyone, regardless of age or background.
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