Ladbury PR

Roma Boys – tale of love and prejudice in the Gypsy community

Tonight at 9pm on Community Channel, sees the UK premier of Roma Boys – an inventive, 30min film following the love story of two young men living in Czech Republic, who face the dual prejudice that comes with identifying as Gay and Gypsy.

David, a Prague university student and Roma Rights activist meets online and falls in love with Marek, a young Roma man living in the country. When a Roma Rights rally takes David near Marek’s home town, they finally arrange to meet in person.

Excited, Marek decides to come out to his family, but the violent reaction from his father and uncles was not what he hoped for. Faced with threats from his own family, he needs to decide whether to stay true to his sexuality or his family’s perception of tradition and community values. Will he ever make it to meet David?

The film has a distinctive style, switching between documentary and dramatic form, receiving the Best Documentary Film Award at Famu Fest and the Best Czech Film Award at Fresh Film Fest. It will be broadcast at 9pm on Wednesday 8 May on Community Channel as part of an upcoming season of programmes celebrating Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in UK and Europe.

Community Channel is available to view on Sky 539, Virgin 233, Freeview 87, BT Vision, BBC iPlayer and via www.communitychannel.org.