Roma 1 CCA 4 Thursday 18th October 4.30pm-5.45pm Osada Bystrany Marc Bader & Petra KuncÌkov· Czech Republic ï 2006 ï 32mins The eastern Slovak village of Bystrany has 2,500 inhabitants, two thirds of them Roma whose ancestors settled there in the 14th century. Most of them are on benefits. In 2004 the government cut benefits dramatically, and life in Roma communities became unbearable. Hundreds of Roma made use of Slovakiaís EU entry to leave the poverty behind forever. Jan Kandra is one of those in work - supervising the unemployed doing volunteer work that the government says will help the Roma to improve their lives. mins Hopeless In Sweden Janos Kovacs Hungary ï 2006 ï 27 mins In 2006 nearly 300 Hungarian citizens sought political asylum in Sweden. Mainly Roma families from Baranya County, they moved in the hope of a better future. Many others from Eastern Europe also travel to Sweden in the hope of finding a way out of the unemployment and hopelessness they face in their own countries with little knowledge of what is in store for them. JOHN AKOMFRAH INTRODUCES Handsworth Songs Saturday 20th October 5.00pm-7.00pm CCA 5 A rare opportunity to see a one-off screening of the legendary 'Handsworth Songs' by Black Audio Film Collective, which Street Level will present as part of Document 5. John Akomfrah of the collective who will also lead a postscreening Q&A. more here |>| Music at the CCA bar Wednesday 17th October 10.00 pm - 1.00pm Shiona McPhail traditional Scots singer Roma band Thursday 18th October 10.00 pm - 1.00pm Political Song Night Bring along cd's with your favorite popular, obscure, powerful, bizarre, outrageous political songs. Also open mic to sing, rant or play the guitar... CCA: The Centre for Contemporary Arts 350 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow Tel: 0141 352 4900