Fighting Stereotypes and Empowering Roma Youth through Participatory Film : A Case Study Based on a Participatory Film Project Conducted in the Roma Community in Glasgow, Scotland

Sammanfattning: The Roma community has long been subjected to negative stereotypes and misrepresentations in the public sphere, leading to discrimination and prejudice. Roma youth in Glasgow, Scotland, supported by the Roma-led organisation Romano Lav, have taken an active role in challenging these negative portrayals through a participatory film project. One of the aims of this research is to explore how young Roma filmmakers are utilising cinematic storytelling to challenge harmful stereotyping of their community. The other one is to investigate the impact of participatory video projects on the film creators and their community. The study fits within the field of Communication for Development by addressing the transformative and empowering aspect of a film project. It aims to fill a gap in knowledge regarding self-representations of Roma and the role of participatory video in their community accounting for cultural specificity. It also adds an insight into the Romani youth’s attitudes and values, contributing this way to a broader knowledge of Scottish Roma while suggesting solutions for social change. By employing qualitative research methodologies, critical visual analysis and interviews, the study seeks to understand the experiences, perspectives, and motivations of the teenagers involved in the project. It is grounded in Paolo Freire’s theories linking participation and empowerment and Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representation. The analysis finds that the Roma youth use personal narratives, cultural traditions, and everyday experiences to construct new representations that challenge stereotypes. Moreover, it highlights the transformative impact of participatory video on the empowerment of the participants, its influence on strengthening communal identity and social bonds, and the film’s educational role in building a more equitable society. This study found that participatory video harnesses great potential for Roma self-representation and empowerment.