Paramisia „The Creation of the World” is an animated film for children based on Jerzy Ficowski’s work from the collection „A Twig from the Sun Tree”. What makes it different from other fairytale videos? The fact that animations were made by Roma children themselves.
Six children from Radom took part in our animation workshops led by artist and director Agnieszka Sadurska. The children first learned what animation is, how it’s created and what useful animation apps they can use on their smartphones. Suitably prepared, they read the fairytale „The Creation of the World”, and then designed the scenery and the characters and made simple animations that are included in the film. The dialogues were recorded both in Romani and Polish.
The artistic supervisors of the project were Agnieszka Caban and Andrzej Grzymała-Kazłowski.
Many thanks to Karolina Kwiatkowska for the organisation, to Primary School No. 23 in Radom for providing the rooms and media, and above all to Anastasia, Adam, Jonasz -Goran, Alan, Adrian, Milan and Laura – our young creators – for their active participation, creativity and great work!
The Romani language, passed on and developed only in oral form, is at the same time the foundation of culture and a wall of defence against the influence of the outside world. One of the primary and basic forms of education and socialisation of Romani children is paramisia – a fairytale, a parable with a moral, referring to the mythological and magical world, often humorous in content, always carrying a message indicating the importance (often superiority) of Romani values – bravery, courage, cleverness, solidarity, loyalty to loved ones. – Andrzej Grzymała-Kazłowski.
The project was funded by the Ministry of Interior and Administration within the framework of the „Programme for the Integration of the Roma Community in Poland 2014 – 2020”, in cooperation with the Jerzy Ficowski Foundation, the Agimagine company, the Museum of Roma Culture in Warsaw, the Central Roma Council in Poland and the Roma Advice and Information Centre in Poland.
