HOW I BECAME A PARTISAN

Numerous stories from WWII remain untold, and some might remain forever unknown. The fates of Roma partisans in the former Czechoslovakia is one such story.The fates of Roma partisans in the former Czechoslovakia is one such untold story. While uncovering her family’s partisan past, director Vera Lacková learns about other forgotten Roma fighters. During her search, she comes up against deep-rooted prejudice, indifference, and hatred towards the Roma community. She aims to change the misconception that Roma were merely victims of the war and show that the heroic deeds of the Romani deservedly form a part of European history.

THE FILMMAKER

Vera Lacková is a Roma director and film producer. She was born in Slovakia, but has lived in Vienna, Austria for several years. She is the founder of the Czech-Slovak production company Media Voice. Through her work with Roma, their stories and movements, she is able to bring a unique inside view of important, current and political Roma issues to her work. Her documentary debut HOW I BECAME PARTISAN celebrated its world premiere at the goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden, where it was also awarded the Prize for Cultural Diversity by the German Federal Foreign Office. The film was developed as part of the Ex Oriente Film Workshop, pitched at the East Doc Platform 2020. The award-winning film is part of the East Silver Caravan distribution programme supported by the Institute of Documentary Film. In 2022, she participated as one of ten international documentary filmakers in the CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator. She has also been a mentee in the FC Gloria mentoring programme in Austria since summer 2022. Her documentary film O BARIPEN about the legacy of Roma writer Elena Lacková premiered at Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in October 2023. She was invited as a member of European Film Academy in 2023.

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

Prize for Cultural Diversity of the Federal Foreign Office - goEast Film Festival - Germany
Best Film - AKE DIKHEA? International Festival of Romani Film - Germany
National Film Prize IGRIC in the Category of Film and TV Production - Slovakia
Best Documentary - Tatra Bank Foundation Award for Audiovisual Art, TV and Radio - Slovakia
Tatra Bank Foundation Award for Audiovisual Art, TV and Radio - Slovakia
The Golden Kingfisher Award for Best Doc - Finále Plzeň Film Festival - Czech Republic
Special Mention – Pavel Koutecký Award - Czech Republic
Special Mention – ARAS - Czech Republic

One World Slovakia - Slovakia
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival - Czech Republic
CinEast, Central and Eastern European Film Festival - Luxembourg
Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival - Germany
Borderlines Film Festival - United Kingdom
Eastern Neighbors Film Festival - Netherlands
One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival - Czech Republic
Kino on the Border - Poland / Czech Republic
Khamoro World Roma Festival - Czech Republic
Middle Point Europe Film Festival - Germany
This Is How We Make Spring - Germany
ELBE DOCK International Film Festival - Czech Republic
Sofia International Film Festival - Bulgaria
Lubuskie Film Summer - Poland
One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival - Czech Republic
Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival - Hungary
Slavonice Fest - Czech Republic