CZECH REPUBLIC: With his new film "Gypsy" ("Cigan") Slovak director Martin Sulík wants to attract attention to problems which 300,000-strong Roma community faces in Slovakia

Record ID: 573986

  • Title: CZECH REPUBLIC: With his new film "Gypsy" ("Cigan") Slovak director Martin Sulík wants to attract attention to problems which 300,000-strong Roma community faces in Slovakia
  • Date: 7th July 2011
  • Summary: KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC (JULY 5, 2011) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE BY "GYPSY" FILM CREW IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Slovak) SLOVAK FILM DIRECTOR, MARTIN SULIK, SAYING: "We really wanted the real Roma acting in the film because you - I am sure - you have seen in the Czechoslovak films usually dark painted Gadzhos (Gypsy expression for "white people") playing Gypsy. But we wanted more - we wanted viewers to hear the Roma language in the film." (SOUNDBITE) (Slovak) ACTOR, JAN MIZIGAR, SAYING: "I have never been acting before, so this was a very special (experience). I did see people acting in films or on television and it seemed to be easy, but really doing it - it is very hard. Sometimes I didn't even know what they wanted me to do. But it was nice." SULIK AND ANOTHER FILM CREW MEMBER LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Slovak) ACTRESS, MARTINA KOTLAROVA, SAYING: "The film didn't change my life but it was a good experience. It was the first time for me and I liked it."
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Czech Republic, Czech Republic
  • Country: Czech Republic
  • Reuters ID: LVA96IDBEST3L3OCJ9IXY5HZN30L
  • Story Text: In his new film "Gypsy" which runs in the main competition of the 46th International Karlovy Vary Film Festival, award-winning Slovak director Martin Sulik tells a story of a 14-year-old Roma boy Adam who, after the death of his father, tries to find his way in life.
    The tale bears the typical traits of the stories of dozens of adolescent Roma who grew up in the poor settlements of Eastern Slovakia.
    In Sulik's film the main characters are played by ordinary Roma who speak their language, not by professional actors.
    "We really wanted the real Roma acting in the film because you - I am sure - you have seen in the Czechoslovak films usually dark painted Gadzhos (Gypsy expression for "white people") playing Gypsy. But we wanted more - we wanted viewers to hear the Roma language in the film," said Martin Sulik at a news conference before the film's screening.
    Sulik considers the lack of integration of the 300,000-strong Roma community in Slovakia the country's biggest social problem. Roma living in appalling conditions, without heat or running water, have the highest unemployment rate in Slovakia, which is over 90 percent. Very few complete secondary education.
    The film was shot in the Roma village of Ryknava in eastern Slovakia where 1,500 Roma live, but the main actors were found in other places after a long and intensive casting. For them, not being professional actors, it was a new and challenging experience.
    "I have never been acting before, so this was a very special (experience). I did see people acting in films or on television and it seemed to be easy, but really doing it - it is very hard. Sometimes I didn't even know what they wanted me to do. But it was nice," said Jan Mizigar (Mi-zhi-gahr), who played the main film's character Adam.
    "The film didn't change my life but it was a good experience. It was the first time for me and I liked it," said Martina Kotlarova, who played Adam's girlfriend Julka.
    After the death of his father the world of the poor Roma village has only two joys for Adam - boxing and Julka, a Roma girl of the same age. But gradually everything the boy was attached to starts to fall apart around him. The inexperience of youth, loneliness and impulsiveness prevent him from using reasons and cool consideration to face the obstacles in his way.
    Sulik had chosen Karlovy Vary for the world premiere of his new film, which also marked his comeback to feature film directing after six years spent mostly on making documentary films.
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