Fifteen years ago Štefan Pongo left his native Slovakia with his entire family for the UK. The reason was simple - xenophobia, racism and systematic bullying of the Romani population is increasingly tolerated in Central and Eastern Europe. But Štefan has not forgotten his roots.
When Miloš Zeman publicly casts Romani people as a non-working segment of the population, reinforcing stereotypes and hostility toward them, Štefan decides to take action. Through social networks, he will call on Romani people to post photos of their work and prove not only to Zeman, but to society as a whole that these stereotypes should be refuted, not reinforced. The truck driver has thus become an activist whose path leads him to public demonstrations in Brussels. However, director Tomáš Kratochvíl's aim is not only to show the birth of a folk hero, but also the background of his family's life. The family has lived for many years as a fully-fledged part of British society. The film thus composes an epitaph not only to Štefan Pongo, who died in February 2022, and the diligence of the Roma community, but also to all the people who left the uncomfortable bubble of their homeland and were not afraid to start a better life elsewhere.
Original Title:
Pongo Calling
Direction:
Tomáš Kratochvíl
Duration:
78 mins
Year:
2022
Audio:
Czech, Slovak, English
Subtitles:
HR, EN, CZ, SK, RO, HU, GE
Country:
Czechia, Slovakia, United Kingdom
Producer:
David Evans, Barbara Janišová Feglová, Radim Procházka
Production:
KULI FILM
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