Recorded at San Francisco's Closer Studios in May 2009, this limited
edition LP by the veteran post-Soviet underground band Umka & Bronevik
(or simply Bro) features striking new versions of 10 songs spanning
two decades.
Anna "Umka" Gerasimova is one of the main personalities of the
Soviet/post-Soviet musical underground. She started writing songs in
the 80's. After some early homemade recordings she took a break to
finish her PhD in early Soviet avant-garde poetry. Meanwhile, Umka's
bootleg tapes spread widely, and upon returning back to music career,
in 1995, she found herself an instant unofficial celebrity. She put
together a rock group and since then never stopped touring around
Russia, former Soviets and abroad. Their list of influences include
the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan.
Umka and Bro have released nearly 20 CDs, but being hardcore 60s-70s
fans, they always wanted to go vinyl. In May 2009, they did it - in
the heart if the 60s, San Francisco, in a studio called Closer
Recordings. Now, touring in the US for the 8th time, they play the
release shows to present their first LP, "The Closer Sessions",
released by a small new independent label Portofranco Records

 More about Umka: "The True Story Of My Life Written By Myself In Bad English"
 http://www.umka-bro.com/..english/autobio.html

Check them out on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?..v=Yv-TE9uL1yk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?..v=pSbHvsYkON8&feature=player_..embedded


 Umka and Bro will play at the MEHANATA BULGARIAN BAR in New York City
Sunday November 29

 Mehanata Bulgarian Bar
 113 Ludlow St (between Delancy & Rivington)
 New York, NY

$10 cover, doors 7pm
 http://www.mehanata.com

....New York.... Roma / Gypsy Human Rights Film Festival

www.nygypsyfilm.com

October 1^st – 9^th, 2009

At

MEHANATA BULGARIAN BAR

113 ....Ludlow.... (btw Rivington & Delancey)

....New York.., ..New York....

212-625-0981

F Train to Delancy stop

www.myspace.com/mehanata     www.mehanata.com

Friday  October 2

Doors: 5pm

FILM SCHEDULE

6:00 - 7:10  Romale   (68 min)

7:15- 8:05   The Forgotten Holocuast  (50 minute)

8:10 - 9:40  Professor Michael Stewart Lecture: The Persecution and Genocide of the European

Roma - How, why, where and who? (90 min)

9:45 -10:15  Moving Stories  (27 min)

Live Music by “Grand Masters Of Gypsy Music”

11pm DJ Poodlecannon

Saturday October 3

Doors: 4pm

FILM SCHEDULE

5:00 - 5:50 What Magdalena said  (49 min)

6:00- 6:30  Presentation, discussion and Q&A

6:40- 7:40  Hidden Sorrows. (56 min)

7:45- 9:45 Lecture By Ian Hancock

Live music by “BAD BUKA”  formerly Panonian Wave

11pm DJ POODLECANNON & Uproot Andy

Sunday October 4

Doors: 4pm

FILM SCHEDULE

5:00 - 6:45  New Play.Our Garbage Dump, Our Hell and Heaven

6:55 - 7:25  INVISIBLE NEIGHBORS_Les Vosins Invisibles ( 27 min)

7:30 - 7:55   Presentation by: Film maker and Roma advocate  on contemporary Gypsy situation in  Belgrade-Serbia  slide shows, short film

8:00- 9:00  Beshencevo: a current history  (54 min)

9:05 - 9:25  We are people/“Amen sam Roma” (20 min)

9:30 -10:00  The Last Days of Sulukule  (28 min)

Monday October 5

Doors: 5pm

FILM SCHEDULE

6:00 - 6:15   As we see it –....Hungary.... (15 min)

6:15 - 6:26   The First Day  (11 min)

6:30  7:20    Train of Freedom.  (50 min)

7:30 - 7:55  Presentation, discussion and Q&A with filmmaker Karina Correa

8:00 - 8:14  Jan Yoors weaving two worlds (14 min)

8:15 - 8:45  Presentation,discussion and Q&A

9:00 - 9:40  Attacks against Roma people. (40 min)

9:45 - 10:45 Presentation by: Roma advocate Boglarka Fedorko on contemporary ....Hungary.... (60 min)

Tuesday October 6

Doors: 5pm

FILM SCHEDULE

6:00  6:56 P.M. PORRAIMOS (56 min)

7:00 - 7:30  - Presentation, discussion and Q&A (30 min)

7:40 -8:30   STRANGERS FROM THE INSIDE- France (52 min)

8:35 - 9:30  Presentation, discussion and Q&A with Eric Darmon and Juliette Jourdan

9:40 - 10:10  Ukraine 2008 - School Segregation (28 min)

Wednesday October 7

Doors: 5pm

FILM SCHEDULE

6:00 - 6:30   Lashi Vita-"Beautiful life” (28 min)

6:30 -  7:00  Looking for my Gypsy Roots.  (28 min)

7:00 – 7:55  "Searching for the 4th Nail"  (55 min)

8:00 -  8:30  Presentation, discussion and Q&A (30 min)

8:40 – 9:40   Roma Stories  (59 min)

9:45 -10:05  Music & Daily Life in Stolipinovo (18 min)

Thursday October 8

Doors: 5pm

FILM SCHEDULE

6:00 - 7:00 Sung Life  (56 min)

7:00 - 7:15  In the Ghetto. The Roma of Stolipinovo (15 min)

7:20 - 8:00  Hopeless In- ....Sweden....  (27 min)

8:10 - 9:20  Gucia  (71 min)

9:30 -10:30  “Heaven Murdered”  (54 min)

Live music by  “Yuri Younakov & Avram Pengas"”

DJ Mishto & TheraphlexNYC

Friday October 9

Doors: 5pm

FILM SCHEDULE

6:00 - 7:25  I have dreamt of working as a hair dresser  (85 min)

7:30 - 9:20   The Gypsy Caravan (109 min)

Live music by  “Grand Masters Of Gypsy Music”

11pm  DJ Poodlecannon

New York Roma / Gypsy Human Rights Film Festival, 3rd edition
October 1-8 2009
Mehanata Bulgarian Bar

113 ..Ludlow.. ..St... NY

Press Contact:

NYGYPSYFILMFESTIVAL@GMAIL.COM

 www.nygypsyfilm.com/
http://www.gypsyfilms.org/

You're invited

Third Annual ....New York.... Roma / Gypsy Human Rights Film Festival!

The New York Roma / Gypsy Human Rights Film Festival continues to roam the globe to present you with an in depth and diverse view on the lives of some of the world’s most overlooked and undervalued people. In a full and varied program we bring together filmmakers, musicians and artists for a spirited and lively celebration of the Roma people. 

The festival will screen over 32 films from all over the world: ..Czech.. ..Republic.., ..Germany.., ..Bulgaria.., ..England.., ..Serbia.., ..Italy.., ..Hungary.., ..Netherlands.., ..Romania.., ..Canada.. and ....Turkey...., including many world premiers and American debuts. Q&A’s and panel discussions featuring the filmmakers, invited artists, lecturers and musicians offer you the opportunity to engage face to face.

The Festival proudly presents special programs featuring:

The Gypsy Holocaust, breaking the silence of a decades' long taboo with movies and lectures and debates with The Romani Archives and ....Documentation.. ..Center.... and former

Roma representative to the UN Economic and Social Council And Member of the International Romani Parliament. Ian Hancock (Professor at the ..University.. of ..Texas..) and Michael Stewart (Professor at the University College London) on the current situation of Gypsies in North America and the persecution and genocide of Gypsies in ..Europe..

-          A lecture by Roma advocate Boglarka Fedorko on contemporary ....Hungary....

-          OutSide Film event including the screening of the banned Bulgarian cult film ‘Bakalava’

-          ‘Our Garbage Dump, our Hell and Heaven’, a new play by Ella Veres, set in a Gypsy community in ....Romania.....

European electors vote in right wing ‘anti Roma’ parties, acting as racist attacks that target Roma populations from Ireland to Italy, Hungary to Romania; even the smallest children suffer from structural segregation and abuse. After centuries of slavery, genocide, massacres and relentless ostracizing the Roma, presently numbering around 15 million people worldwide, continue to be subjected to unprecedented levels of discrimination and violence in today's world.

Keeping quiet in society’s margins while culture, heritage and spirit are stolen is not an option. We at the New York Gypsy Film Festival hope to counteract these forces by exposing the public to the moving art, music, history, culture and above all humanity of the beautiful Roma people.

So come and join us for a closer look at the undeniable beauty of the Gypsy people!

For full festival details please view 

http://www.nygypsyfilm.com/

Or contact us at NYGYPSYFILMFESTIVAL@GMAIL.COM

Opening night October 1 party with ‘DJ HUTZ” (of Gogol Bordello) 11pm downstairs in ICE CAGE

Gypsy Tabor Festival

Sept 11, 12 & 13

www.nygypsy.com

Maintaining the spirit of trans-global exchange and recognition of gypsy culture, the 2009 New York Gypsy Tabor Festival has returned to engage the tri-state area in a passionate celebration of music, arts, and ideas. This event is produced by Mehanata Bulgarian Bar in conjunction with local performers, including I Guilliare Di Plazza and Open Concept Network.

      Slated to take place September 11th – 13th at the Floyd Bennett Field in ..Brooklyn.., it summons all who possess a bit of gypsy in their hearts. In years past the festival has sought to illuminate the music  and arts of a wide regional scope, with artists showcasing the sounds of ..Bulgaria.., ..Turkey.., ....Russia...., and the Balkans.

      As its people represent an unending variety of origins and ethnicities, ....New York City....’s First airport provides the ideal stage for the event: a place where all walks of life cross paths and the essence of gypsy culture hovers just above the urban sprawl. Beach-side and brilliant green, the field will host campsites, bonfires and bbq's, DJ dance parties, food and alcohol vendors and live music. From fire breathing to belly dancing, the possibility of a dull moment is highly unlikely.

      A diverse palette of performers are scheduled to appear over the course of the weekend, spanning from traditional dance to contemporary music. Each come with a piece of history and a part of their world to share.

This year's full list of performers include:

Friday Sept 11                    Saturday Sept 12                     Sunday Sept 13

Cookie & The Madman       Grand Masters of                    The Raya Brass Band  

 W/ Dj Hypnotic Metrofolk       Gypsy Music                         Ameranouche Trio

Alessandra Belloni             The Kreptatka Bar Band               Magges

Mambo Tango Tella           Alessandra Belloni             West Philadelphia Orchestra

Ivan Lenin                              Alex Dreyshner                      Panonian Wave

KAGERO                               Consider the Source                DJ Poodlecannon
Dj Spinach                    Panonian Wave                      

                                       DJ Mishto and TheraphlexNYC

Alex (Sacha)the owner and the person who brought us the crazy, fun, Legendary & Infamous Bulgarian bar to New York city is celebrating His birthday this coming Saturday May 23 at Mehanata BULGARIAN BAR in the lower eastside.  Come destroy your liver with him.

Saturday May 23

‘ALEX BIRTHDAY PARTY”

DOOR: 8pm

MAGGES “greek music”

TIMES: 9pm

COVER: Free till 10:30 then $10 cover

w/ DJ POODLECANNON & Uproot Andy

For bookings  or more info please contact Rachel Martinez mehanatabooking@aol.com

MEHANATA BULGARIAN BAR

113 Ludlow (btw Rivington & Delancey)

New York, New York

212-625-0981

F Train to Delancy stop

www.myspace.com/mehanata     www.mehanata.com

ROMASHKA @ MEHANATA, APRIL 30TH

One last time, one last dance, one last shout for joy - Romashka takes over the legendary & infamous Mehanata for our last New York show until August!
Bring your 5 best friends + see you there!

DETAILS:
Thursday, April 30
Mehanata - the Bulgarian Bar

8:30 pm to 10:30 pm
$10

Address: 113 Ludlow (between Rivington and Delancey)
F/V train to 2nd Ave

ABOUT ROMASHKA (http://www.romashka.net)
Romashka is a driving force in New York City's burgeoning gypsy and balkan music scene, playing gypsy and folk music from Russia, Romania, the Balkans, and beyond. Lithuanian-born singer Inna Barmash fronts a band nine wildly versatile NY musicians, denizens of fertile downtown grounds. At full blast, Romashka has a violin, viola, accordion, guitar, trumpet, clarinet/saxophone, tuba, and percussion. We are busy recording our second album, to be released in the Fall! Our first album is available at http://www.cdbaby.com/romashka (physical + mp3s), plus any of your favorite digital retailers (including iTunes).