PAPER, HORSE AND BIRDS

The documentary Paper, Horse and Birds follows a day in the life of a Roma family, who collect secondary raw materials and live in Crvena zvezda, a part of the city of Niš. The film follows their activities – collection and division of scrap metal and waste paper, a family lunch and their everyday discussions, wihch helps us understand how they make ends meet and what their hardships are. Despite the de facto difficult financial situation, we see a complex family with solidarity and warm interpersonal relations.The storyline of the film has three aspects. The first is the documentary footage of a day in the life of the family. The second uses interviews with the family members to tell the story of the position of the Roma people, child labor and their exploitation. The third aspect shows the musings of the main character Đulijano which play with the stereotypes about the Roma people, the Roma culture and the “curse”, or the stereotypes about the Roma community.