The film was received with equal passion at many other festivals around the world. I read afterwards that at the Locarno film festival, the 3000 spectators rose to their feet and applauded Tony Gatlif for a full ten minutes. For all its apparent flaws - less than perfect performances, continuity problems, some awkward editing, stylistic inconsistency - I came out feeling profoundly stirred. The audience was clearly drawn in, laughing at appropriate moments at the end, holding back tears and reluctant to leave the cinema. I had watched the film in a tiny cinema in the fifth arrondisment of Paris. In the days that followed, she watched the film again, this time conceding that the film did stereotype negatively.ĭimitrina's story surprised me. In short, the general opinion among the Roma was that far from being a vehicle for greater understanding of the Romani plight, it was perhaps better the film didn't exist at all.ĭimitrina was forced to rethink her initial reaction. If Tony Gatlif was of Romani descent, he had "betrayed" his people. Once again it was an outsider claiming authority over the already abused Romani image. Others felt the Romani behaviour shown, especially the vulgarity, was quite simply a false representation of how the Roma really are. Some said the lovemaking, and more particularly, the vulgar cursing between the Romani villagers, should never have been revealed to gadje, as this was humiliating. They said it was hurtful stereotyping, another false gadje version of Romani character. In a discussion that followed, she learned that they had unanimously disliked the film. Then she saw that some of the others, especially the five Roma, seemed not to share her views. During the pogrom, everyone is chased away, Ardjani is burnt to death, and the village is left in ashes.Īs the final credits rolled on, Dimitrina looked about the room and saw that, like herself, many of her colleagues were moved by the film. In a bar confrontation, he throws a glass and unintentionally kills one of the local Romanian authorities, which triggers a mob attack on the Romani village. Tragedy strikes when Ardjani returns after six months. With her help as interpreter, Stephane systematically records and documents local Romani musicians and singers. Soon he falls in love with Sabina, a dancer who performs with Izidor at local celebrations. The village Roma gradually accept Stephane, and he adapts himself into the community. Izidor welcomes this disoriented gadjo (non-Rom) as some form of godsend, and claiming to know the voice on the cassette, leads Stephan back to his village. Late one night, cold and with nowhere to sleep, he encounters Izidor, an elderly Romani musician, drunk and declaiming theatrically against the Romanian authorities who have imprisoned his son Ardjani. Stephane carries a recording of Nora Luca's voice, hoping that someone will recognize it. It was the tale of a young Parisian named Stephane who, having embarked on a sentimental quest to find a Gypsy singer named Nora Luca, much beloved by his deceased father, ends up living for several months in a Romani settlement somewhere outside Bucharest. One day in June, around fifteen people gathered and sat through the film in silence. It was, of course, Gadjo Dilo, and he believed its broad distribution would be the single most effective thing that could be done to promote Roma rights in Europe.ĭimitrina obtained the video cassette and invited a group of Roma and non-Roma to view it in her Budapest office. A New York colleague of hers, himself a rights activist, had sent her a message that summer, declaring rapturously that he had seen an "extraordinary" film by a French director of Algerian and Romani descent. She said she had and recounted the following anecdote. Last December, I asked Dimitrina Petrova, Executive Director of the ERRC, if she had seen Tony Gatlif's latest film, Gadjo Dilo. He studied literature at McGill and Oxford Universities.) ( Erik Rutherford is a writer living in Paris. Contributions to the Romani identity discussions are welcome. Romani activist Gregory Kwiek, film critic László Orsós, and the ERRC's Claude Cahn respond. In the article, Erik Rutherford offers the view that Tony Gatlif's film Gadjo Dilo has had and will continue to have a positive impact. Notebook section of this issue of Roma Rights opens a discussion on Romani identity. Tony Gatlif's film Gadjo Dilo furthers the Roma cause
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