I Even Met Happy Gypsies

Skupljači Perja

Bora the Gypsy is married to an older woman, and he falls in love with the younger Tissa, who is being offered in marriage by her father, to a young gypsy man. This marriage arrangement is according to custom. Tissa rejects her husband, claiming he is not able to consummate the marriage, and Bora joins her. They get a monk in the mountains to marry them. Unable to return to the Gypsy camp, Tissa tries to reach Belgrade on her own, but a couple of truck drivers rape her, so she does return in misery to her tribe. Meanwhile, Bora defends his honor the traditional way, in a knife duel, and kills his opponent. Therefore he, too, must leave the tribe. And yet, we’ll find happy gypsies...

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Aleksandar Petrović
Script: Aleksandar Petrović
Cinematography: Tomislav Pinter
Editing: Mirjana Mitic
Music: Olivera Vučo
Actors: Bekim Fehmiu, Olivera Vučo, Velimir Bata Živojinović, Gordana Jovanović, Mija Aleksić, Rahela Ferari, Severin Bijelić, Etelka Filipovski, Milorad Jovanović, Milivoje Đorđević
Production: Avala Film
Producers: Vladislav Lašić
Sets: Veljko Despotović
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: Yugoslavia
Production Year: 1967
Duration: 86΄
Contact: Delta Video
Awards/Distinctions: Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film – Academy Awards 1968, Grand Prize of the Jury, FIPRESCI Prize – Cannes IFF 1967, Best Film, Best Director – Pula FF 1967

Aleksandar Petrović

Aleksandar Petrović was born in Paris on January 14th, 1929. His parents, Dragomir and Anka, studied in France after World War I. The Petrović family moved back to Belgrade in 1930. In 1947, Petrović went to the Academy of Film in Prague (FAMU), but for political reasons, returned to Belgrade in 1948. He then started working as an assistant director and film and art critic, and continued his studies in art history. His first short film Flight Above the Marshes represented Yugoslavia for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival in 1957. In 1961, his only son Dragan was born and suffered from encephalitis which left him handicapped for the rest of his short life. In 1966, Petrović’s third feature film Three was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. In 1967, I Even Met Happy Gypsies received the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Petrović was one of the first intellectuals to oppose Slobodan Milosevic and took a strong stance against nationalism and war until his death. In 1987, Petrović finished shooting his final film, Migrations, starring Isabelle Huppert and Richard Berry. Aleksandar Petrović died in Paris on August 20th, 1994, before seeing the Migrations premiere.

Filmography

1955 Shoulder by Shoulder (short doc)
1956-1957 Flight Over the Marshes (short)
1957 Petar Dobrović (short)
1958 The Only Exit
1958 The Roads (short)
1960 The War on War (short)
1961 And Love Has Vanished
1963 Days
1964 Record (short)
1965 Assemblies (short)
1965 Three
1967 I Even Met Happy Gypsies
1968 It Rains in My Village
1972 The Master and Margarita
1977 Group Portrait with Lady
1989 Migrations – The Most Glorious of Wars