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A documentary by: Elisa Scubla Produced by: Elisa Scubla

Elisa Scubla contact details: scubla.elisa@gmail.com

http://gypsyfair.weebly.com/

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Director’s statement When I first heard about the Appleby Horse Fair it was November 2010 and I was doing some research about the Roma and Travellers communities in the UK. I always had some naïve curiosity towards their ancient culture and especially in relation to horsemanship. In Italy I lived in a small town, which, as far as I remember, has always had a Roma community living at the outskirt of the tow; but no one had any kind of contact with these people. This is probably the reason why I developed such interest: I wanted to know more. It is a strange coincidence that I had to move to the UK before having the chance to investigate one of the cultures that fascinated me so much when I was a kid. Certainly, as soon as I read about the Appleby Horse Fair, I decided that I wanted to go there. After, I thought that making a documentary would have been even better. The 21st century Europe has still many prejudices and although some communities have integrated there are some groups that still face racism, in all kind of forms. Coming from a country where Gypsies are looked at with suspicion and fear, I thought that my documentary could have had a positive impact on people around the world to help them discover the Gypsy culture. It is not only that. People are scared by what they do not know and sometimes are mislead by false representations of the truth; therefore I believe that by giving the chance to Roma and Travellers to speak with their own voices and by showing the beauty within their traditions it would be an opportunity to make people think and understand.

Elisa Scubla

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Documentary Description The documentary will be aimed at giving a truthful insight into the Romany and Travellers traditions and allowing a broader audience to learn about their culture. The film will explore the Appleby Horse Fair and the aspects of the Gypsy life in England, including historical backgrounds told by the participants themselves. Ideally, the documentary ‘action sequences’ will contain the preparation of the fair, the horse trades and the sellers’ activities. It will be completed by interviews with the fair participants, giving their testimony on their experience at the fair and on the aspects of their culture (gatherings, food, religion, fairy tales, family, elders etc.). The documentary structure will be developed in chronological order from the beginning to the end of the fair. Insights into the Romany and Travellers culture will be included in these sections without the need of an orderly composition. With consideration to all the issues that the documentary is going to cover, I will expect it to be a feature length documentary. The style of the documentary will be much centred on the visuals, with a fast pace in the editing and a focus on details. Whereas the interviews will give a powerful emotional and educative element, I would like to have also something that is ‘beautiful to watch’. The patterns of the clothes, the tattoos, the colours, the horses and the faces of the people will have much impact visually speaking. The documentary will be shot in HD. Music will be very important in the documentary, whether executed or played in the soundtrack. The idea is to convey the same typical fast pace of the gypsy music with the visuals and the editing. According to the budget, Romany musicians might be involved in the project. Once completed, the documentary will be sent to the major film festivals around the world.

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Filmmakers Elisa Scubla is from Udine, near Venice, in Italy. Her short film The Mirror received critical acclaim in the Messaggero Veneto after being selected to be screened at the Cinema Massimo in Turin. She has since moved to London where she has produced the short film Bucket Head for Dream Films. She has also worked in the art department of two period shorts: All Men's Dead (NFTS) and The Devil's Dosh (Infidelis Productions). She is currently studying Film & Broadcast Production. João Araújo was born in Lisbon, Portugal. His passion for the world of TV and Cinema started very early when his parents took him to watch some live recordings of TV shows. Besides his passion for cinema, Joao has also developed a passion for photography. He presented 3 individual exhibitions and some of his photographs were published in local newspapers and magazines. His exhibitions featured very diverse topics such as: Sea and Fishery; Lisbon – The City of the Golden Hills and Natural World. For 4 years he belonged to a theatre group that performed more than 10 plays for both small and large audiences. He recently moved to London where he is studying Film and Broadcast Production. He has been taking several workshops and masterclasses by BFI and BAFTA.

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Credits A documentary by Elisa Scubla Producers: Elisa Scubla Director: Elisa Scubla Director of Photography: João Araújo Editors: tbc Sound Recordist: tbc First Assistant Director: tbc Thanks to:

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Art Concepts based on pre-existing materials

Drawings by Elisa Scubla