LATCHO DROM

The film retraces the long musical and historical journey of the Gypsies, from their origins in North-west India, through Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and France. Having left the North-West of India almost 1,000 years ago, for reasons unknown, the gypsies travelled across Europe and North Africa. Along the way, the names "Gitan", "Halab", "Tsigane", "Bohemian" and "Gypsy" were given to the Rom people. Latcho drom travels across eight countries, discovering on its way the extraordinary variety of chants, music and dances brought there by the Rom, whose history appears neither in books nor in musical scores: it is only through this oral musical tradition that the memory of their origins has been kept alive, throughout this millenium marked by hate and rejection. Gatlif said of his film: "In Romani, "Latcho drom" means "Have a good journey"; this is my wish to gypsies all around the world".