General

THE NEW YORK GYPSY FILM FESTIVAL OCT 1-7

Thursday, 04 October 2007
7:00 PM - 12:00 AM

The first annual NY Gypsy Film Festival dedicated to embracing the Roma culture and heritage of gypsies around the world, will be held the first week of October 2007. All screenings, Q&A's, corresponding exhibitions and musical events of the festival will take place from October 1-7 at Mehanata 113 Ludlow St. in the Lower East Side. The festival will be comprised of thirteen films from Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, and the US.



Through literally centuries of slavery, genocide, massacre, and relentless ostracizing, the Romani (Gypsy) people who presently number around 15 million worldwide, continue to suffer unprecedented levels of violence, civilian attacks through fervent segregation, police brutality, and an appalling lack of legitimate representation in art and media. Abrasively, intimately, and artfully handled in thirteen hand-picked films from Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, and the US; the first annual New York Gypsy Film Festival brings some of these artists and their subjects to the forefront of the so called 'First World' with love, and without mercy.



The NY Gypsy Film Festival will host the world premiere of Sándor Cs. Nagy's Mundi Romani, a Hungarian documentary that depicts twelve artists presented at the 2007 Venice Biennale as part of the Roma Pavilion.



Human Heart Explodes is a film directed by Helder Mira, produced by Matt Orefice and Paul A. McDonald. The documentary visualizes Safet Tairov's struggles to help his disadvantaged and ostracized Roma (Gypsy) community in a small village in Eastern Europe. A discussion with the filmmaker will take place after the screening of this film.



A special event presentation screening will be held of The Pied Piper of Hutzovina . The film documents Pavla Fleischer's adventures from Budapest to Ukraine alongside gypsy spirited frontman of Gogol Bordello; Eugene Hutz. There will be a Q&A following the screening with Pavla Fleischer.



Luchia Dragosh's The Child Within, is a human trafficking awareness screening event of a dramatic feature that investigates the lives of three young pregnant women from Bulgaria, Belarus, and China, who flee to America despairing their circumstance to search for lives of freedom. Instead they find themselves victims of human trafficking. Q&A with the filmmaker to follow the film's screening.



A special closing screening will be held on October 7, 2007, presenting American Gypsy  and The Gypsy Caravan with a Q&A to follow the films by Director/Producer/Writer Jasmine Dellal. The Gypsy Caravan is an ethnographic exploration of Roma musicians including renowned Fathers of Gypsy music; Taraf de Haidouks and Fanfare Ciocarlia.





Screening Schedule:



Mon October 1 - Pretty Dyana 45 min 7:00 PM

Mon October 1 - Garlic And Watermelons 66 min Q&A 8:00 PM**

Tue  October 2 - Everyday Life of Roma Children from Block 71 22 min 7:00 PM

Tue  October 2 - Porraimos 56 min Q&A 7:30 PM**

Wed October 3 - The Soul Has no Ethnic Origin 13 min Q&A 7:00 PM**

Wed October 3 - Gypsy Summer 12 min Q&A 7: 30 PM**

Wed October 3 - The Child Within 93 min Q&A 8:00 PM**

Thur October 4 - The Pied Piper of Hutzovina 63 min Q&A 7:00 PM**

Fri   October 5 - Virtuosi from Nowhere 78 min 7:00 PM

Sat  October 6 - Mundi Romani-The Venice Biennale 25 min 7:00 PM

Sat  October 6 - Human Heart Explodes 85 min Q&A 8:00 PM**

Sun October 7 - American Gypsy 80 min Q&A 7:00 PM**

Sun October 7 - Gypsy Caravan 109 min Q&A 8:30 PM**

**Q&A w/filmmaker



Musical performances and visual art depicting Roma themes will be presented at screenings TBA.



We look forward to having you join us in the celebration of The Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015.



For more information regarding NY Gypsy Film Festival and for press images, please contact Aljerrari (917) 945-2234 / nygypsyfilmfestival@gmail.com or visit us at myspace.com/nygypsyfilmfestival

Location:
New York, NY