Shot by legendary cinematographer Albert Maysles, this dynamic musical documentary follows five Gypsy bands from four countries who unite for the Gypsy Caravan as they take their show around North America for a six-week tour, astounding every audience they meet. Their musical styles range from flamenco to brass band, Romanian violin to Indian folk. And with humor and soul in their voices, they celebrate the best in Gypsy culture and the diversity of the Romani people in an explosion of song and dance.
As the film follows the amazing performances and behind-the-scenes action from the tour created by World Music Institute, we discover the real lives of these musicians. We visit Macedonia, Romania, India and Spain, meet their families and see what music brings to their lives. The tales of these characters are woven between their performances – allowing us to understand and celebrate Romani culture and the prejudice of their shared ancestry.
The “Gypsy Caravan” tour extravaganza features performances by Macedonian diva and “Queen of the Gypsies” ESMA REDZEPOVA, traditional Indian folk troupe MAHARAJA, Romanian FANFARE CIOCARLIA, the violin wizardry of Romanian group TARAF DE HAIDOUKS and the ANTONIO EL PIPA FLAMENCO ENSEMBLE.
The sounds of Roma (Gypsy), a culture interminably misunderstood, oppressed and stigmatized, are increasingly heard on the dance floor, and have attracted fans like Johnny Depp, who is in the film. TIME Magazine declares, “Gypsy music is escaping its ‘ghetto’ in Romania to become a worldwide sensation.”
Tribeca Film Festival’s Steven Snyder writes, “Given extraordinary access to a world known by few outsiders, Dellal takes full advantage by reaching out to the community’s key players, including a violin virtuoso who also must beg for change in order to keep his family afloat.” This film is a celebration that will leave your toes tapping, your heart pumping and your soul uplifted by a glorious journey that is the Gypsy Caravan.
Jasmine Dellal grew up in England and spent much of her childhood with grandparents in a south Indian village. After studying French & Spanish at Oxford University, she made short films for her Masters at U.C. Berkeley and won a student Emmy for a profile of a homeless photographer. Dellal’s teacher and mentor in California was the acclaimed Marlon Riggs, with whom she worked on his final feature “Black Is…Black Ain’t.” In the early 1990s, Dellal stumbled on a book about “Gypsies” which ended up launching her on a decade of Romani filmmaking.
Dellal, who is an alumna of the Graduate School of Journalism, directed, produced, wrote & edited her first feature documentary, “AMERICAN GYPSY: a stranger in everybody’s land” (which had an arthouse theatrical release; played dozens of festivals worldwide; won awards; and aired on PBS’s prestigious POV series, drawing the season’s highest ratings). Dellal founded Little Dust Productions to make artistic films with a social conscience. Now based in New York, she teaches occasional classes in the USA and Europe, and enjoys guiding new directors to create their own films. Dellal and several other alumni helped on the film, including Sam Green and Alexis Bloom, as well as Jon Else, who runs the Graduate School of Journalism’s documentary program.
The film will also screen at the United Nations Association Film Festival on October 26th, http://www.unaff.org/2007/index.html:
The 10th UNAFF will be held from October 24-28, 2007 at Stanford
University with screenings in San Francisco on October 17 and 18, East
Palo Alto on October 19 and San Jose on October 21. The theme for this
year is Ì¢âÂÒCAMERA AS WITNESS.Ì¢âÂå