25 short films produced with EU funds which tells stories of Roma communities won an award in the U.S.
The 'Colorful but Colorblind' project has been granted by the prestigious award from the US-based Society of Professional Journalists. The project is a series of 25 short films telling the stories of Roma communities living in central and Eastern Europe. The aim was to encourage a more nuanced coverage of Roma issues and a greater participation of Roma journalists in mainstream media operations.
The 'Colorful but Colorblind' project, which brought together Roma and non-Roma journalists to produce a series of 25 short films telling the stories of Roma communities living in central and Eastern Europe, has won a prestigious award from the US-based Society of Professional Journalists, in particular was chosen for the Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism in the digital media presentation (independent) category. This project aimed to help remedy anti-Roma stereotyping through the creative use of multimedia in reporting minority issues. Also the project equally sought to strengthen inter-cultural dialogue and journalists' mutual understanding of one another.
The Vice-President and EU's Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, stated to be proud to see that an EU-funded project countering age-old prejudices against Roma, receives acknowledgement across the Atlantic. According to Ms Reding, this proves that the European Union's unprecedented efforts and commitment to promote the social and economic integration of Roma are paying off.
Among the commitments agreed by the EU, European leaders endorsed the EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies past 24 June 2011. Member States will have to submit national Roma strategies by the end of 2011. They will have to specify how they will contribute to achieving the overall EU level goals for Roma integration. The Commission will then assess the national strategies and report back to the European Parliament and the Council in spring 2012. This exercise will be repeated on an annual basis, thus launching a regular review of progress made at national level within the EU framework.