12. Madách International Theatre Meeting

Emmi (German) and Ali (Roma) fall in love. Despite the hostility of those around them, they decide to get married - but soon face the overwhelming power of prejudices, also shared by their closest and most trusted allies...

    In every romantic relationship, there comes a moment when we feel we do not know ourselves or the person who suddenly appeared to us "then", nor the reality that made our encounter possible. Emmi and Ali's relationship reveals a gap in our everyday reality, a gap they try to bridge as quickly as possible so that their new-found love can become part of it. The moment this is achieved, any radicalism disappears from their romance. But Fassbinder, by juxtaposing Emmi and Ali's first and last dances, reminds us that this gap may always be a part of reality, and that the person we love and the world we live in may remain forever alien.

    Fear Eats the Soul shows, with the clarity of a fairy tale, how a hierarchical society works. Fassbinder manages to break away from unidimensional characters and familiar clichés to portray multifaceted protagonists. It is a highly topical film, which, more than forty years on, still demonstrates the workings of a social construct at the level of interpersonal behaviour, the origins and effects of exclusion, and how private life can suddenly become political.

    Nowadays, the exclusion and violence against Roma is discussed in new ways at the local, regional and pan-national levels. However, the current situation is even more topical and, unfortunately, more explosive, too. How do we as individuals and as a community intend to address these problems when our room for manoeuvre is more and more restricted?