''Gypsy Magic'' is a 1997

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

film directed by

Stole Popov Stole Popov (; born 1950) is a Macedonian film director. Biography He was born 20 August 1950 in Skopje, Yugoslavia. He graduated film directing at the Academy of Theatre, Film & Television in Belgrade. He is currently a film directing profess ...

. It was Macedonia's submission to the

70th Academy Awards The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the sho ...

for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot

On New Year's Eve, a street party occurs in 1994 in Shutka (

Šuto Orizari Šuto Orizari (, Balkan Romani: ''Shuto Orizari''), often shortened as ''Šutka'' (, ), is a neighbourhood in the City of Skopje, North Macedonia, and the seat of Šuto Orizari Municipality. It is often regarded as the cultural capital of the Rom ...

). In a nearby makeshift cinema, a local Romani man Taip, his son Shakir, and a

United Nations Protection Force The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...

(UNPROFOR) medical doctor named Riju watch the Indian musical romance film ''

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People *Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (surname), a list of surnames * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwrit ...

''. Taip lives in a shack on the outskirts of Shutka with his mother, wife Remzija and eight children. He is the unchallenged patriarch of his family. All eight of their children live with them. Riju brings UN humanitarian food into Taip's home and befriends him. His oldest son Bajram helps him find scrap metal from the dump. Bajram and Taip get into a conflict with Omer and his Romani family clan, who also have their focus on the dump. Taip plans on buying a white horse so that he can earn money from racing and move to India. Taip's mother supposedly dies. Taip and Bajram collect the governmental money for the funeral. They discover the woman is not dead but they hide her so that they do not have to return the money. Taip persuades Remzija to fake death so that he can buy her a bed. He also fakes the death of his son Fazli, who has been badly beaten by Omer's clan. With the money, Taip buys the white horse which he names Krishna. The purchase of the horse is celebrated in a local pub. Taip and Riju are joined by other three members of UNPROFOR. Omer and his clan enter the pub. Instigated by Riju, his three UNPROFOR friends beat Omer's clan. Needing more money to prepare the horse, Taip convinces Shakir to fake death. Taip moves the family out of Shutka but Fazli runs away. Fazli finds and kills Omer with a knife as an act of revenge. Shakir

comes out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

in the new place, revealing his wish to go to Italy. Riju seduces Taip's daughter Ramiza. Taip convinces Bajram to fake death but he insists on a funeral and a feast. After they bury Bajram, Taip and Riju go to a pub for a drink but they later return to the graveyard, finding Bajram dead. Omer's clan finds Taip's new place and burns it down. The family moves out again. To his disappointment, Taip discovers Riju having sexual intercourse with Shakir. Riju leaves Skopje without saying goodbye. Taip gets murdered by Omer's clan. Remzija laments his disappearance.

Cast

Miki Manojlović Predrag "Miki" Manojlović ( sr-cyr, Предраг "Мики" Манојловић; born 5 April 1950) is a Serbian actor, famous for his starring roles in some of the most important films of Yugoslav cinema. Since the early 1990s, he successfull ...

as Taip * Antony Zaki as Riju * Katina Ivanova as Remzija * Bajram Severdzan as Bajram * Toni Mihajlovski as Fazli * Arna Shijak as Ramiza * Goran Dodevski as Shakir * Šaban Bajramović as Omer

Production

The film's script was written by Vladimir Blaževski.

Vlatko Stefanovski Vladimir "Vlatko" Stefanovski ( ; born January 24, 1957) is a Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian folk rock, ethno-rock jazz fusion guitar virtuoso. Biography Vlatko was born into a typical theatrical family. His parents, as artists, often ...

made the film's music. The shooting of the film occurred between December 1995 and May 1996. Most of the film was filmed in and around the

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

suburb of Šuto Orizari, a Romani settlement. A couple of exterior scenes were also filmed in several locations in Skopje and the city dump. The film's principal language was

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 ...

. The cast was a combination of professional and amateur actors.

Release

In 1997, the film premiered at the

Montréal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019. While focusing on the Romani people, the film's director

admitted that his real intention was to depict the condition of uncertainty experienced by Macedonia in the early 1990s, which after hurriedly declaring independence, entered a period of transition for which it was not prepared. Per Popov:

Reception

Reviewer Petar Volnarovski criticized the film in the magazine '' Blesok'', writing: "The finished film seems like a working copy at its early stage. Superficial and shallow, with no film effects or tricks, it is poorly made; it brings a monotone narrating, with no dynamics of events (presenting the facts only and nothing else)." Brendan Kelly of the magazine ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "The most interesting moments in "Gipsy Magic" are the fascinating glimpses provided of life in modern-day Macedonia, but the story is scattershot, the central character is an unpleasant boor, and helmer Stole Popov takes way too long to wend his way through this strange tale. It's a fest item at best."

References and notes

External links

* 1997 films Macedonian comedy-drama films Macedonian-language films Romani-language films 1997 comedy-drama films Films scored by Vlatko Stefanovski English-language Macedonian films Films shot in Skopje Films set in North Macedonia Films directed by Stole Popov {{1990s-comedy-drama-film-stub