Alina Serban

Alina Serban (born October 29, 1987) is a Roma film and theater actress and writer. Serban is known for writing and performing plays with social justice messages, against sexism, racism, homophobia and various other forms of discrimination [1]

Alina Serban
Born
Alina Ioana Serban

(1987-10-29) 29 October 1987
Bucharest, Romania
OccupationActress
Years active2006–present

Biography

Alina Serban was born in 1987 in a Romanian Roma family in Bucharest, Romania. She was 8 years old when her parents lost their home and were forced to move to her father’s extended family. A few years later her mother went to prison and Alina spent her teenage years in a children's home from where she went directly to the university. She used her diaries from those years to write the early versions of I Declare at My Own Risk – Slumdog Roma and Two weeks, maximum one month, maybe six years[2] – which she performed at the International Romani Art Festival in 2009 and 2010 [3]

In 2011 Serban received a scholarship and moved to London for a master’s program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. The following year she received the "Best Romanian Student in the UK”, prize, but she could not afford the expenses associated with the trip from London to Edinburgh so she could not pick up the prize in person.

In March 2014 the actress was invited to the Street Child World Cup to give a speech in front of 2000 people at Royal Albert Hall.[4] In 2016 Alina Serban published the first Collection of Roma Fairy Tales in Romania, as told by her aunt – Tanti Veta.

Currently she has projects in Romania, UK, Belgium, and Germany, including two feature films in which she will play the main character.

Studies

Theatre

Alina Serban became known on the alternative theater scene of Bucharest after the performance I Declare at My Own Risk, a one-woman-show she had also written. The play, inspired by the autobiographical story of the actress,[6] was performed in many European countries, including Romania, Hungary, France and Italy [7]

In 2013 Alina Serban performed I Declare at My Own Risk in Great Britain, at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art – RADA Festival, followed by another performance at Tara Arts in 2014 [8]

While Living in London, in 2015, Alina Serban wrote “Home”, a play that tells a story of different immigrants looking for a better life in the UK. The play won “Stories of London” Rich Mix's competition [9]

By the end of 2015, Serban performed in “Roma-Sapiens” in Berlin and was invited to present and perform I Declare at My Own Risk at the Stockholm Literature Festival [10]

In 2016 Alina Serban writes, directs and performs in “The Great Shame”, a theater play that talks about 500 years of Roma slavery in the Romanian countries and in which she includes little known stories of slavery from historical documents [11]

Other Projects
Year Title Role
2016 THROUGH MY SKIN LEYLA
2016 ROMEO AND JULIET MERCUTIO
2016 I DECLARE AT MY OWN RISK ALINA
2016 THE GREAT SHAME MADGA
2016 RISK PERFORMER
2015 ROMO SAPIENS MIA
2015 ABOUT ME WRITER-PERFORMER
2015 THE HOUSE PROJECT THE CLEANER
2015 RISK PERFORMER
2014 THE HOUSE PROJECT MACARENA
2014 STREET CHILD WORLD CUP PERFORMER
2014 PERFORMER I DECLARE AT MY OWN RISK
2012-2013 WANNA KNOW A SECRET ? PERFORMER

Cinema
Year Title Role
2018 Alone at My Wedding Pamela
2017 “GIPSY QUEEN” ALI
2016 “SCRIS/ NESCRIS” GIUBERINA
2015 “FAST TO KILL” KATHERIN MCKAY

Television
Year Title Role
2018 DOING MONEY - TV MOVIE, BBC TWO LILY
2016 HOLOCAUST SORA
2011 CENSUS THE FRENCH WOMAN
2008-2009 A STORY ABOUT THE GIRL PERFORMER
2007 THE LAST ENEMY - BBC SERIES NADIR

References
  1. "Alina Şerban, actriţă româncă de etnie romă: "În Marea Britanie, m-au întrebat dacă sunt Esmeralda"". Adevarul.
  2. "Sunt Alina Şerban, sunt de etnie romă şi nu vreau să mă tratez". Critic Atac.
  3. "Istoric". IRAF. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03.
  4. "Alina Serban, actress - "Street Child World Cup"".
  5. "Alina Serban, talentata actrita de etnie roma care darama prejudecatile britanicilor". Pro TV.
  6. "This Is Who I Am Now: Alina Serban on Roma Art and Identity". Open Society Foundations.
  7. "Alina Șerban performs 'I Declare at My Own Risk'". Evensi.
  8. "Alina Serban supported by Tara Arts & Arts Council England". Tara Arts.
  9. "Alina Serban". Black Theatre Live.
  10. "Authors and other Participants". Moderna Museet.
  11. "Romania turns its back on dark past of Roma slavery". Yahoo News.
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