AKE DIKHEA? 2026: Caliu: Nothing Else, What Else Can I Do? Receives Audience Award
The documentary Caliu: Nothing Else, What Else Can I Do?, directed by Simona Constantin, received the Audience Award at the 10th edition of AKE DIKHEA? – International Festival of Romani Film in Berlin. The film also received a Special Jury Mention, recognising a documentary portrait of an artist whose life and identity remain inseparable from music.
The film follows Gheorghe “Caliu” Anghel, the legendary Romanian Romani violinist often known as the “King of the Violin.” Refusing to accept that his greatest days as a musician are behind him, Caliu confronts the challenges of the present while looking back on the successes of his earlier career. He sets out to reinvent himself, determined to remain active in a musical world where the traditions that shaped him are increasingly under pressure.
Moving between concerts, memories of past achievements and the quieter rhythms of everyday life in the Roma village where he was born, the documentary presents a portrait of an artist in search of a new direction. Music remains the constant that connects these different moments, sustaining Caliu’s ambition and sense of purpose.
Directed by Simona Constantin, the 90-minute documentary explores more than a musician’s career. It considers the relationship between artistic identity, memory and belonging, as well as the difficulties of sustaining a musical tradition while adapting to changing circumstances. Caliu emerges not simply as a celebrated violinist, but as a complex individual negotiating the distance between past recognition and present realities.
The film’s recognition at AKE DIKHEA? is particularly meaningful within the context of the festival’s tenth edition. Held in Berlin from 17 to 20 September 2026 under the motto “Breaking the Spell,” the festival invited audiences to question stereotypes about Roma and Sinti communities and to encounter stories shaped by lived experience rather than inherited assumptions.
Through Caliu’s personal journey, the documentary brings attention to Romani musical heritage and to the people who carry it forward. It asks what it means to continue creating when the cultural and social conditions that once sustained an artistic tradition are changing.
ERCF was represented on the 2026 festival jury by Timea Junghaus, alongside Sejad Ademaj, Ömer Alkin and Benjamin Menekshe.
Congratulations to Simona Constantin and the entire team behind Caliu: Nothing Else, What Else Can I Do? on receiving these two distinctions.
Film: Caliu: Nothing Else, What Else Can I Do?
Director: Simona Constantin
Country: Romania
Year: 2025
Running time: 90 minutes
Awards: Audience Award and Special Jury Mention, 10th AKE DIKHEA? International Festival of Romani Film, Berlin, 2026
More information: AKE DIKHEA? – International Festival of Romani Film
