Wasteland
Directed by Andrei Schwaetz
Gadjo Dilo
Directed by Tony Gatlif
Sydney International Film Festival
Reviewed by Becky Ellis
Two films screened at the Sydney International Film Festival in June focused on experiences faced by the Romany (or Rom), more commonly known as gypsies, in Romania. Wasteland is a documentary shot by a Romanian-born film-maker, Andrei Schwaetz. The second film, Gadjo Dilo, is by French-based film-maker Tony Gatlif, who also directed the film Latcho Drom.
Wasteland profiles a Rom settlement called Dallas — ironically named after the US television series about rich oil tycoons in Texas — situated on a garbage dump on the outskirts of the city of Cluj.
The residents make their living searching through the rubbish to collect items that can be recycled. Everybody in the community joins in the work — children, pregnant women, the elderly.
Living conditions are horrific, but the community is absolutely neglected and continuously harassed by the Romanian government. The only help is offered by the non-government organisation Doctors Without Borders.
Many examples are given throughout the documentary of the systematic oppression faced by the Rom. During the making of the documentary, one dwelling burned down, killing a woman and her small child. The local priest attends the funeral only reluctantly.
At the local school, Rom children are separated from the other students because they are deemed dirty. They are made to wash themselves thoroughly on arriving at school even though they had already washed at home.
The mayor of Cluj constantly threatens to send the police in to arrest the residents of Dallas and to have the community bulldozed, as he did a few years prior to the making of the documentary. This threat is abandoned only during the election period, when "all votes count".
Gadjo Dilo (Crazy Stranger) is the story of a young French man, Stephane, who goes to Romania in search of a Rom singer. He befriends an elderly man named Izidor who is a clan leader of a community of lautaris (Rom musicians).
Stephane falls in love with a Rom woman, Sabina, and eventually becomes part of the community. He sees first-hand the oppression and struggles faced by the Rom.
As in Wasteland, many of the Rom struggles are highlighted in Gadjo Dilo. Izidor's son is unjustly arrested and imprisoned by the police, who constantly harass the community.
The people from the town, particularly the governmental authorities, are hostile, labelling the Rom "thieves" and "dirty", refusing to hire them for any "respectable" jobs, and disallowing them from entering businesses. In one horrific scene, the settlement is burned down by racist residents of the town.
Gadjo Dilo and Wasteland are both excellent films. While showing the struggles that the Rom face, they also show the beauty and strength of a culture that has endured thousands of years of oppression.
An important aspect of both films is the voice they give to the people, letting them tell their own experiences rather than patronising them.