AKE DIKHEA? 2026: The Exhibition Receives a Special Jury Mention
The Exhibition, a short documentary directed by Dáša Raimonová and co-directed by Béla Váradi, received a Special Jury Mention at the 10th edition of AKE DIKHEA? – International Festival of Romani Film in Berlin.
The film follows Béla Váradi, a queer Romani photographer who returns to his rural Hungarian hometown after 25 years away. Seeking to organise an exhibition of his photographic work, he revisits a place shaped by personal memories, family ties and questions of belonging. What begins as an artistic undertaking becomes an encounter with home, identity and the possibility of making oneself visible.
Through Váradi’s return, The Exhibition explores the complex relationship between individual experience and the places that shape us. Home emerges not simply as a geographical location, but as a space where memory, personal history and social expectations intersect. Returning after a long absence means confronting both what has changed and what continues to define one’s relationship with the past.
The film also addresses visibility and representation. As a queer Romani artist, Váradi’s photographic practice opens up questions about who gets to tell their own story, how marginalised experiences enter public view, and what it means to claim space for oneself within a community and beyond it. The exhibition at the centre of the documentary becomes both an artistic project and an act of self-assertion.
Produced in 2026 across Hungary, the United Kingdom and Norway, The Exhibition brings together personal experience and broader questions of identity, belonging and cultural visibility. Its recognition at AKE DIKHEA? places these themes within a festival dedicated to Romani cinema and to stories that challenge established narratives about Roma lives.
The film received its Special Jury Mention at 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 and reconsider how Roma and Sinti communities are represented in film and public culture.
ERCF was represented on the 2026 festival jury by Timea Junghaus, alongside Sejad Ademaj, Ömer Alkin and Benjamin Menekshe.
Congratulations to Dáša Raimonová, Béla Váradi and the entire team behind The Exhibition on this recognition.
Film: The Exhibition
Director: Dáša Raimonová
Co-director: Béla Váradi
Production: Hungary, United Kingdom and Norway, 2026
Award: Special Jury Mention, 10th AKE DIKHEA? International Festival of Romani Film, Berlin, 2026
More information: AKE DIKHEA? – International Festival of Romani Film
