Time of the Gypsies

A young man living with his grandmother in a Roma village in Yugoslavia is trying to raise money for his sister's treatment. A man promises him work in Italy. Where he goes he finds a network that puts children out to beg, and he joins it. The film tells human trafficking woven through with fable: brides floating in the air, animals that do not speak, scenes where dream and fact are not separated. Emir Kusturica directed. Most of the cast are not professionals and much of it is in the Romani language. It won the directing prize at Cannes. A real warning: the film is about the exploitation and maiming of children. How Roma communities are represented in narratives like this has also long been argued over, and this film sits inside that argument.