''Gypsy Blood'' is a British feature-length observational documentary which examines the fighting culture that

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

fathers hand on to their sons. It was filmed over two years by the photographer Leo Maguire and produced by the production company

ClearStory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

Subject

Its main subjects are Hughie Doherty, who becomes embroiled in a fight to defend his family’s name, and his young son Francie, who is portrayed living between two worlds, shown learning to read at primary school while sparring and hunting at the travellers’ campsite. The film also follows the story of Fred Butcher, a Romany who nearly dies during a machete attack after a day of drinking in the pub turns to violence.

Reception

Transmitted on 19 January 2012, Gypsy Blood launched 2012’s season of the True Stories documentary strand on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and was the first True Stories to premiere on the main channel, rather than the digital channel

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content The i ...

. It attracted more than double the average audience for Channel 4’s 10pm slot - 2.01 million (13.1% share) between 10pm and 11.35pm and an additional 280,800 watched on C4+1.

Controversy

The film attracted critical praise from newspapers but also drew 500 complaints to

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

, including a complaint from the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

, about scenes of alleged animal cruelty perpetrated by some of the film’s characters. In March 2012 Ofcom dropped these complaints, stating they did not raise issues that warranted investigation.

Awards

Gypsy Blood was shortlisted for the Rockies awards at the 2012 Banff World Media Festival, in the Social and Humanitarian documentaries category. The film was shortlisted in the Best Newcomer category of the 2012 Grierson Awards. Leo Maguire was shortlisted for Cinematography on Gypsy Blood at the 2012 Bafta Craft Awards. Gypsy Blood was showcased at the 2012 Sheffield documentary festival.

References

External links