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🇳🇱 Netherlands /Culture & Society

Tony Gatlif’s musical films sang of the Roma experience in heavenly counterpoint

From NRC Handelsblad · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Tony Gatlif, who died aged 77 in Arles while working on a historical film, made more than 20 films rooted in Roma musical traditions.
  • His 1993 breakthrough, “Latcho drom,” traced Roma music from India through Romania, France and Spain and won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes.
  • Gatlif maintained a special connection with Dutch cinema audiences, whose support helped sustain a broad art-house film offering around the turn of the century.

“Latcho drom,” or “Good journey,” was the film that carried Tony Gatlif into the international festival circuit in 1993. His syncopated ensemble work followed Roma musical traditions from India through Romania, France and Spain, and won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes.

Innovation defined Gatlif’s cinema. Born Michel Dahmani in Algiers in 1948, to Berber and Roma ancestry, he left for France in 1960 during the Algerian War of Independence. He adopted the name Gatlif, taken from a park in Algiers, as a tribute to his origins and his freedom. Those ideas became central to his work.

His films resisted easy classification. Some, such as “Latcho drom,” leaned toward documentary, but they were always driven by archetypal stories of revenge, love and the restlessness inside the chest. His camera could turn a city into a visual musical instrument and a landscape into a minor scale, making the viewer a traveler searching for someone who could sing the song of a life.

That “good journey” was also what his family wished for him after news emerged last week that Gatlif had died at 77 in Arles, where he was working on a new historical film. Over his career, he recorded Europe’s and North Africa’s rich Roma musical traditions in more than 20 films.

Dutch audiences developed a particular bond with his work. For almost 25 years, the former distributor Contact Film released his films in the Netherlands, helping introduce many auteur directors to local audiences. Around the turn of the century, Gatlif’s films became so popular with art-house viewers that their box-office success indirectly helped support a rich art-film offering. In an interview with NRC, he defended the French word “Tzigane” as a chosen name, saying, “Since the arrival in Europe of the people we call ‘Gypsies,’ there have been so many names. And almost all of them were discriminatory.”

Since the arrival in Europe of the people we call ‘Gypsies,’ there have been so many names. And almost all of them were discriminatory.

· Tony GatlifGatlif discussed the history of names applied to Roma people and why he used “Tzigane” as a chosen identity.
About this summary

Originally published by NRC Handelsblad in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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