The first episode of the new podcast “So Keres?” aired on 8 of April 2021, on the occasion of this year’s celebration of International Roma Day. The initiative is supported by the INSCHOOL project and led by the national coordinator for Romania; Gelu Duminica. The main aim of the podcast is to introduce the public to Roma culture, focusing on education and the impact of Roma role models on politics and civil society. The project is also meant to highlight the value of ethnic diversity and its contribution to Romania’s development.

 

Georgiana Ionita, president of the Roma Students Association in Bucharest, was the guest and protagonist of the first episode of “So Keres?”. The episode revolved around the fundamental question “is identity an obstacle or a superpower?”, thus engaging with the complex topic of personal identity. Georgiana shared her experience, speaking about how she found and accepted her Roma identity, and how she is now thriving in this belonging, thanks to a newfound feeling of empowerment emerged through her process of discovery of Roma history and culture.

 

The second episode of “So Keres?”, screened on 15 April, benefited from the presence of a prominent Romanian politician Dr. Hunor Kelemen, member of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and Hungarian language writer. Dr. Kelemen came over to the studio to join an open discussion on delicate topics such as: racism, education, funding, the work of institutions and the future implementantion of government plans for inclusive education in Romania.

 

The special guest for the third episode of “So Keres?” of 22 April  was Katia Pascariu, the lead actress of “Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc” film, the winner of the Golder Bear at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021, directed by Radu Jude. A successfull actress and committed activist, had a fascinating story to tell. In the podcast, you can listen to her rap, and her personal experience juggling between family, school, and carreer.

 

In the latest podcast, Mr Dan Barna, the Deputy Prime Minister of Romania and the President of the Save Romania Union, spoke about the priority interventions that Romania will tackle as part of the Resilience and Recontruction National Plan and explained how the Romanian Governament intend to put in practice his objectives as regards combatting the extremist and anti-Roma discourses.

 

The previous podcasts and the coming ones can be viewed on facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/sokerespodcast/posts/107929304740076  and on

youtube: https://youtu.be/hWnkfacBg44