Poll Position

Vote for your favourite film in the Drive 2 Survive / Ando Glaso short film festival to be held live in BaAD in Glasgow between 14:00 and 16:00 on September 13th.

You can watch some of the shortlisted films here and vote on this page from today. See the survey at the end of the page to vote. But to see all of them in their cinematic glory come to BaAD on September 13th.

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Film 1:  'My Daily Task' by Damian Le Bas

This poetic film explores what it feels like to be a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller with feelings living in a world of strange ethnic judgements. With Damian Le Bas, Jimmy Doherty, Tammy Buckland, John Connors, Heaven-Leigh Clee, Liza Mortimer, Theresa Pine, Faye Freeman.

Film 2: Ice Cream by Millie Cooper

Ice cream is a short story encapsulating the life of a Romany girl exploring her surroundings whilst mischievously escaping from her home in the search of Ice cream.

Millie Cooper: "We wanted to show ourselves in normal day to day life, taking away the ‘mystery’ around growing up Romany. Millie and her producer Liza felt as though there is a lack of stories showing our childhoods, Our childhoods were magical and full of adventure and believe that every Romany and Traveller child should see media that represents them.

Ice cream was a way for us to tell a whimsical comedic story following our protagonist Ruby on the search for Ice cream. She follows the melody of the chimes from an Ice cream van, something so prevalent in a British childhood and sneaks away from her older brother’s watchful eye. We follow Ruby into the innocence of childhood, her not understanding the potential danger she could be in. As Ruby takes us on this adventure, we are introduced to her kind faced father who becomes a pivotal role within Ruby’s adventure."

Film 3: That Boy by Toby Gorniak

THE FILM: That Boy

This is not just a film – it’s an original, raw, never-before-publicly-shown private screening experience.

That Boy captures a real conversation between me – a Roma man, and a former Neo-Nazi.

We sit face to face.

We go back to being boys.

We talk about trauma, hate, identity, fear – and the choices that led us to live two very different lives.

It’s uncomfortable.

It’s human.

It’s healing.

And it’s only shown in private settings – by invitation, and with purpose.

No streaming. No public viewing.

Only powerful spaces ready to have real, honest conversations.

Film 4: Angry Bird. Directed by Jack Lilleywhite and produced by Lisa Smith and Masha Thorpe.

After a devastating crash, Romany racer Georgie, 'The Angry Bird,' questions her future in a male-dominated sport and must confront her identity to return as the only woman on track. Directed by Jack Lilleywhite and produced by Lisa Smith and Masha Thorpe.

The film was made as part of the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund - a scheme created in 2020 to break down barriers of access for emerging filmmakers. The initiative also provides filmmakers with a foundation of knowledge and hands-on training to help them succeed in their careers.

Film 5: The Earth Beneath Margaret's Feet by Lisa Smith

"I'm making a documentary to tell our story Gran," says Lisa. Margaret responds, “Well, we’ve got to do something to show that we’re alive, that we still exist.”  76-year-old Margaret Smith, is a former nomadic potato picker, working to preserve  her families collective cultural memories and heritage. 

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Ffilm Cymru Wales and the BFI NETWORK in association with BBC Cymru Wales and Patrin Films. 

Film 6: April 17th by Adela Zbila, Monika Ginovi, Paulina Gomborava, Patricie Ginova and Serena Gomborava

'April 17th' is the first fiction film made in Scotland by Roma people. This film is about the struggles of Roma and racism they receive in the neighbourhood and Roma Easter traditions, all explored in a comedy genre.

Film 7: Future in Your Hands by Lena Popikova, Naomi, Monika Ginova, Serena Gombarova, Paulina Gombarova, Adela Zbila

'Future In Your Hands' is a documentary, where it explores struggles young Roma people face in education. We interviewed teachers from local secondary schools, to talk about what they think about the struggles young Roma people face and why do they think its like that. In this documentary, we also interviewed a Roma man, with a successful career in a job you don't tend to see Roma people working in. This is to help other young Roma people change their views on education and help them see that anything is possible, if you stick to it. 

Film 8: Romany by Lisa Smith

Lisa Smith - a modern Romany woman - is a Welsh film-maker with her own production company. Straying away from a traditional lifestyle of young motherhood, Lisa is passionate about celebrating the depth, colour and beauty of Romany traditions and life through the power of film.

Film 10: A Basket Full of Eggs by Liza Mortimer and Lisa Smith

Romani activist  Liza Mortimer explores The English Folk Dance and Song Society archives to uncover her family's forgotten story. Through conversations with collectors and singers, she discovers how her great-grandmother Minty Smith and other Romani people played an important role in preserving England's traditional folk songs.

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Patrin Films funded by the University of East Anglia's AHRC Impact Accelerator Award (AH/X00344/1) as part of the project 'Romani and Traveller Voices in Music Archives'.

Film 10: ERODE by Charles Newland

ERODE is a piece by filmmaker Charles Newland exploring the hypocrisy and repetition of racist anti-GRT rhetoric in Britain, combining dog-whistle Tory soundbites with footage of the insidious reality in a montage style. Utilising droning soundscapes and disturbing imagery of recent police brutality against GRT people, ERODE asks the audience to listen to the repeated lies and bigotry of the powers-that-be, including the likes of Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is featured in a campaign trail interview.

In the interview, Patel discusses unauthorised sites which cause ‘misery’ to the local community. She also spearheaded the recently-passed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, giving police authority to take homes and possessions away from GRT people and effectively outlawing our lifestyle. She has called us ‘inherently criminal’, even as police are filmed in the inherently criminal act of setting a dog on an unarmed traveller man and allowing it to savage him for minutes.

Travellers have called Britain home for centuries, and so the right- wing scaremongering takes on a broken-record quality, reflected in the feedback loop format of ERODE. In spite of that monotonous hatred, the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people survive.

Vote for the best film

• 0%Film 1: 'My Daily Task' by Damian Le Bas
• 0%Film 2: Ice Cream by Millie Cooper
• 0%Film 3: That Boy by Toby Gorniak
• 0%Film 4: Angry Bird. by Jack Lilleywhite

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