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The Gypsies of Svinia

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Moved by a sense of outrage, David Scheffel, a Canadian anthropologist, is determined to help the impoverished Roma (Gypsies) rebuild their community in the eastern Slovakian village of Svinia. So-called "white" Svinia is a picturesque, typical Slovak village with well-kept homes, gardens, a store and a school. Some 300 metres past the last home is "black" Svinia, where the Roma live. In lives characterized by decay and despair, the Roma dwell in squalid tenement blocks and one-room huts of sticks and mud--with no clean water or sewage facilities and with little hope of employment. Many Svinians, whose homes and gardens are regularly burglarized by the desperate Roma, have lost all patience and sympathy. In terrible fits of rage, some praise Hitler's policy of trying to exterminate them. Throughout Eastern Europe, the painful transition from communism to democracy has relegated the Roma to the farthest, most grotesque margins of society. The Gypsies of Svinia is a testament to the firm resolve of Scheffel and the Roma to make things better.

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General Note

Agency - English program:.Documentary Program - West.

Credit Note

Director, John Paskievich ; associate producer, John Paskievich ; camera, John Paskievich ; producer, Joe MacDonald ; executive producer, Graydon McCrea ; sound, Robert Hanchar ; editing, Kenneth George Godwin, John Paskievich ; sound editing, Clive Perry ; sound mixer, Mike Hoogenboom.

Time of Event Note

Recorded 1998.

Summary

Moved by a sense of outrage, David Scheffel, a Canadian anthropologist, is determined to help the impoverished Roma (Gypsies) rebuild their community in the eastern Slovakian village of Svinia. So-called "white" Svinia is a picturesque, typical Slovak village with well-kept homes, gardens, a store and a school. Some 300 metres past the last home is "black" Svinia, where the Roma live. In lives characterized by decay and despair, the Roma dwell in squalid tenement blocks and one-room huts of sticks and mud--with no clean water or sewage facilities and with little hope of employment. Many Svinians, whose homes and gardens are regularly burglarized by the desperate Roma, have lost all patience and sympathy. In terrible fits of rage, some praise Hitler's policy of trying to exterminate them. Throughout Eastern Europe, the painful transition from communism to democracy has relegated the Roma to the farthest, most grotesque margins of society. The Gypsies of Svinia is a testament to the firm resolve of Scheffel and the Roma to make things better.

System Det Note

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Source of Description Note (R)

Description based on online resource; title from title screen (National Film Board of Canada, viewed 2023-08-10).