In a suburb of Strasbourg, Alsace, France, ten year old boy, Max, spends his summer vacation with his grandmother. He hears Manouche gypsy Romani music being played in a local bar, and loves it. He goes to visit the gypsies in search of a guitar, where he meets a young Romani tomboy, 'Swing'. She introduces Max to her gypsy community who live in caravans and down-at-heel public housing. Over several days, Max is taken into the community to witness Romani lifestyle, traditions, knowledge of plants, and particularly their Manouche music. Max is particularly fascinated by Miraldo, the Romani guitarist he first heard in the bar, and asks to take guitar lessons with him (Miraldo is played by one of the greatest guitarists of gypsy jazz, Tchavolo Schmitt).
Score
Tchavolo Schmitt's actual playing—no actor, just pure Manouche genius.
Cinematography
Golden Alsatian light that makes poverty look like poetry.
Direction
Gatlif's insider-outsider lens—he's Romani, he knows this world.
Director
Tony Gatlif
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tchavolo Schmitt is a real gypsy jazz legend; Django Reinhardt's relatives appear in the cast. No Hollywood fakery here.
Director Tony Gatlif is Romani-Algerian and spent his career fighting stereotypical 'gypsy' portrayals—this is rare insider cinema, not exoticism.
FR
