Gypsy

Gypsy is the story of Adam, a boy who, after the death of his father, struggles to cross the boundaries of his settlement and tries to change his siblings' lives. He finds himself in a conflict with racial, social, and cultural prejudice and the unwritten laws of his own Roma community. “We wanted to make a film about our Roma for we realized that we don’t know a thing about them. We do know the Gypsy Kings, a hundred-member Roma orchestra from Budapest, however, we don’t have an idea about the conditions of the 200 000 Roma living in Eastern Slovakia. It is easier for us to accept the simplified television image than the complex reality. We didn’t want to present a mythical, folklore or romantic image of the Roma. We wanted to capture a true image of their life, since the life in a Roma settlement is a reflection of our life. It’s just that their life is more emotional, more acute, more direct”, says co-writer Marek Leščák.“I don’t think that our film is only about the Roma, though. We tried to make a film about a man in a difficult existential situation. […] Communities that are pushed to the edge of the society on various pretexts (cultural differences, low level of education, inadaptability, unwillingness to accept majority rules etc.) are a perfect reflection of the value system of any state”, adds director Martin Šulík.