Loli Kali Shuba

LOLI KALI SHUBA In 1991 we shot the documentary film "Widow-Street" (Ukrkinokhronika Film Studio), dedicated to a small Roma community in Transcarpathia (Zakarpatye). We worked in a big rush, while filming this short movie and in it, we showed portraits of easygoing, sincere and overall good people. Our characters were residents of this camp: a boy, a dancing girl with a fascinating name Prince, and others. Throughout this movie, you heard songs sung by a twelve year old resident of the camp Yura and Prince's mother Wilma. Due to our rush, we could not complete the translation of these songs. It was snowing upon our departure, and behind our bus we saw children running in the snow... The film "Loli kali shuba" is rather a cinematic essay on a voyage "twenty years later" to "old" places in hope to meet some of the characters of the first movie and finally find out what a twelve year old Yura and Wilma, dancing girl's mother, sung to us. Translated from "romany", "Loli kali shuba", means red-black winter coat. This is the name given by Roma kids from Transcarpathia (Zakarpatye) to a little insect: sunny (ladybug)... These kids, similar to all children around the world, take it in their palms and sing a nursery song: "ladybug, fly, fly to the sky"... And "sunny" spreads its wings and flies... Flies, of course, to "the sky"... While children grow up and become adults... That's all... Somehow, this little "sunny", flying off the children's palms to the sky, forever remains one of the most wonderful and touching images in our mind. It remains as a feeling of pleasure and heartache, pain and warmth... Red and black exist... Beauty exists...