Black and White in Color
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Mira Erdevicki-charap
Vera Bila
Vera Bila
David Charap
Mira Erdevicki-charap
Mira Erdevicki-charap
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Singer Vera Bila and her band, KALE, are cult stars in France and Germany, where they perform gypsy (Romany) music in the hippest clubs. Vera, a huge woman who wears a skin-tight red dress on stage and is addicted to gambling on "the fruit machines," is no garden variety gypsy. This up-close portrait reveals a moody, passionate, eccentric artist--as devoted to her husband ("I trim his toenails with my teeth") and son (in jail for burglary), as to a career on the brink of international recognition. Here is a film which is not about the "gypsy problem," but which incorporates the vicissitudes of 'Rom' life in post-Soviet Eastern Europe and celebrates the 'Rom' ability to make art in the midst of a predominantly hostile foreign culture.
Director
Mira Erdevicki-charap
Cast
Vera Bila
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States December 15, 1999
Released in United States Winter December 15, 1999
Shown at Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival in New York City November 12-20, 1999.
Shown at Sarajevo Film Festival (Regional Program) August 1999.
35mm
color
dialogue Czech
subtitled English
rtg MPAA NONE
Theatrically released as part of a feature-length presentation along with Joachim Kreck and Detelina Grigorova-Kreck's 15-minute short, "Ziganska Musica" (Germany/1998).
Released in United States December 15, 1999 (Film Forum; New York City)
Released in United States Winter December 15, 1999
