Gross-Stadt Zigeuner

About

Gross-Stadt Zigeuner (Urban Gypsies, 1932) is a silent, black-and-white documentary short film directed, photographed, edited, and produced by László Moholy-Nagy. Running approximately 12 minutes, the film portrays the daily lives of Roma communities living in winter settlements on the outskirts of Berlin. It observes their domestic activities, children at play, horses and wagons, street trading, music, dancing, and communal gatherings. Combining documentary observation with the visual experimentation of the avant-garde, Moholy-Nagy presents scenes of everyday life through carefully composed images and an attentive use of movement, framing, and editing. The film extends his interest in the modern city beyond its architecture and machinery to the people living at its social margins. It also offers a historical record of Roma life in Germany during the final years of the Weimar Republic, before the Nazi regime intensified the persecution of Roma and Sinti.

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