A PEOPLE UNCOUNTED (Aaron Yeger). 99 minutes. Some subtitles. Opens Friday (August 2) at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. For times, see listings. Rating: NNNN
Until recently, there’s been very little research on the Roma population. Among the most thorough studies was the work of Dr. Robert Ritter and Eva Justin. They identified and catalogued “Gypsies” for the Nazis, an integral step to genocide.
Toronto director Aaron Yeger’s comprehensive and emotionally charged doc, A People Uncounted, breaks down the basic steps of genocide (identify, marginalize, execute), while adding another shade to the Holocaust by shedding light on the horrific abuses suffered by the often-ignored ethnic group.
Interviews with academics and Holocaust survivors paint a vivid and traumatic narrative of the Romani. Though they gained acclaim through jazz (thank you, Django Reinhardt) and were romanticized in the opera Carmen, for centuries they were branded travelling beggars, thieves and whores. They were European history’s most expendable lot.
Yeger’s first point of business is deconstructing the stereotypes by investigating the social conditions that made migrating, performing and panhandling necessary for the Roma. In some countries, the reason is simple: they weren’t allowed to own land.
The film sometimes wobbles when it attempts to connect the past to current affairs, making an underlying point – history might repeat itself – that is stretched thin.
It fares much better when it focuses on Roma culture, the details of the Holocaust and the personal, devastating accounts of survivors, whose recollections will make you sick to your stomach.
