the pied piper of hutzovina
24 01 2007
I have not bolgged for a while as I’ve not been well and the last few days the wife and I have been on our twice yearly trip away together, a must for anyone with kids and wanting to keep a healthy relationship. This time we used it as an excuse to go and see one of my hero’s Eugine Hutz from the band GOGOL BORDELLO. He is from the Ukrane but lives in new york, and has a brilliant mix of punk and gypsy music.
However this time the show was a film by Pavla Fleischer following Eugine back to his gypsy roots in eastern Europe. Here he meets some of the most talented musicians, who are also some of the poorest and most forgotten people in the western world. These people are not granted any rights and are just shut away, indigenous rights are not given to these people, they are not the large caravan owning people of England, they are poor in the saddest way.
What I admire about this man is that he may have a big ego but he is so passionate about this world and getting back to real music. In an interview after the film he said that gypsy music is any music played anywhere when a bunch of people get together and just play. This was a brilliant night and we ended up meeting him after the showing and got to chat about things he said when he started the band it was more about being an actavist for bringing attention to these people not selling T-shirts.
I recently email the director
Hello my name is antony
Me and my wife came to see a viewing of ‘ The Pied Piper of Hutzovina’ at Brighton the other day. I just wanted to say that it was a great film and made an impression on us both, seeing these people who are poor and forgotten but who have so much to give with their passion and music. I felt bad for the poor questions that were asked after the show, more about Eugine than the film. Lets hope that it encourages more people to get back to real music and simple enjoyment, and possibly think less about labels and genres.
this was her reply
dear Anthony,
thank you very much for your mail. It warms the heart to know the film conveyed the right message. I am not worried about peoples’ questions - I understand that Eugene holds a particular interest for the audiences. My film both benefits from it and is harmed by it
.. The setting also did not help much. Comedia in Brighton is largely a club night/gig place. We screened the film at the Institute of Contemp. Arts and also for Al JAzeera TV show, and the audiences and questions were very different there. To be honest, I was actually pleasantly surprised that even the young club audience seemed to enjoy the film and stick with the traditional music we brought with it.
All the best and thank you for the lovely blog.
Pavla
That sounds excellent stuff. I have never heard of him I confess but gypsy/punk crossover is a fave genre at Rhomboid mansions. Do you know Emir Kusturica’s band the No Smoking Orchestra?
No I’ve not heard of those either so we both have new stuff to look out for, thanks for that.
Balkan Beat Box are another good one.