Latcho drom

This magical, enticing film offers a musical and choreographic vision of the Gypsies' trek from their original home in India, through the Middle East, to Eastern and Central Europe. Tony Gatlif captures the ever-changing Romani culture: In each new country where the Gypsies settled, their songs, dances and costume absorbed elements of local traditions; thus, there are Indian drums, Oriental belly-dancing, Hungarian violins and Spanish guitars. Yet over the centuries, certain things remained, including the rich, coarse sound of Gypsy singing and a clear passion for complex rhythms. Though Latcho drom ('have a safe journey' in Romani) has no narration, the song lyrics speak poignantly of the Gypsies' tragic history of oppression and violence -including their persecution by the Nazis during World War II.