Film Archive

Gypsy

Official Selection - Competition 2011 / Cigán / Slovak Republic, Czech Republic 2011

This tale of 14-year-old Adam who, after the death of his father, tries to find his way in life, bears the typical traits of the stories of dozens of adolescent Roma who grew up in the poor settlements of Eastern Slovakia. Adam’s responsibility as new head of the family, which he is prepared to assume at the cost of personal sacrifice, is taken away by a person for whom Adam has no respect. When everything he believed in collapses around him and he is left alone to struggle with evil, he simply cannot find a way out.

Synopsis

For 14-year-old Adam, the world of his poor Romany village has only two joys: boxing and Julka, a friend his same age. But after the violent death of his father, the boy experiences life’s harsher side: his mother remarries and his stepfather demands obedience without seeking to deserve Adam’s respect. Gradually everything the boy was attached to starts to fall apart around him, and if his dead father hadn’t visited him he wouldn’t even know which path to take. The inexperience of youth, loneliness, and impulsiveness prevent him from using reason and cool consideration to face the obstacles in his way, and he even sometimes provokes those who stand by him. And thus he finds himself in a situation for which there is only one solution.

About the film

107 min / Color, 35 mm
World premiere
Director Martin Šulík / Screenplay Marek Lesčák, Martin Šulík / Dir. of Photography Martin Šec / Music Vladimír Godár / Editor Jiří Brožek / Producer Rudolf Biermann, Martin Šulík / Production In Film Praha / Cast Ján Mižigár, Martin Hangurbadžo, Martina Kotlárová, Miroslav Gulyas, Attila Mokos, Miroslava Jarábeková, Ivan Mirga / Contact In Film Praha s.r.o., Bontonfilm, a.s., FE Agency / Distributor Bontonfilm, a.s.

About the director

Martin Šulík (b. 1962, Žilina, Slovakia) graduated in film and television direction from VŠMU (1986). In 1986-91 he worked as assistant director on short films, occasionally directed for the theater, acted in movies, and shot documentaries. Since the early 1990s he has mainly focused on features, distinguishing himself for his poetic-symbolic tone, nostalgic atmosphere, existential dimension, and episodic structure. Filmography: Tenderness (1991), Everything I like (1992), The Garden (1995 – Special Jury Prize at KVIFF 1995), Orbis Pictus (1997), a segment from the story showcase Prague Stories... (1999), Landscape (2000), the docudrama on director Pavel Juráček The Key for Determining Dwarfs or The Last Travel of Lemuel Gulliver (2002), The City of the Sun (2005, screened in competition at KVIFF), and Gypsy (2011).