THE CURSE OF THE HEDGEHOG

“I cared for my donkey more than I do for my own man and kids. But now it’s dead. If I had a donkey now, I’d be as well off as a Member of Parliament.” concludes Turica, one of the main characters in the film. She and her relatives wander from village to village, carrying on their backs huge bundles of handmade brooms and baskets which they try to trade for food. The filmmaker follows this extremely poor Gypsy family in their survival winter trips. Employing a cinéma vérité camera style, the film goes beyond all Gypsy stereotypes and clichés to reveal a group of real people doing their best to cope with the harsh, absurd and at times tragicomic situations they stumble upon in their everyday lives. A remarkable photography and a bunch of colourful people, all of them natural born storytellers, open the gates towards a world most of us find to believe it really exists.