Ceija Stojka

“Ceija Stojka” is a film about the past in the present, about a life of traumatic experiences and about the joy of living. It is the portrait of the 66 year old austrian romany Ceija Stojka, who as a child still travelled the roads with her family has been settled in Vienna for a long time now. The film commences with the portrayal of Ceija Stojka as she is now and reconstructs her biography with all its wealth of references to the collective experiences of the romany and Sinti from the thirties up to the present day. This cinematic portrait communicates a rare sense of vitality representative of the movement that aims at dissolving the barriers separating the Romany and Sinti people from which has itsorigin in a way of life that hardly exists anymore. During the past ten years Ceija Stojka has become well known beyond the borders of Austria, as an author, painter and singer. She is a the world of the “Gadje”, a movement fraught with difficulties that now, for the first time since the arrival of the Romany and Sintisvobod people in Central Europe is beginning to gather impetus. The partner of the evening is Austrian Culture Forum.