Fiona

Personally, I do not feel the need to be represented by anyone in this modern age and am happy to bask in the memories and reflected glory of what used to be.
Having said that I am aware of my own good fortune that has allowed me that privilege.
I am also aware that for the gypsy people who are facing difficult times today it may be in their best interests to have a good, well informed leader championing their cause and I will do my bit, as always, by taking every opportunity to portray my heritage in a positive light wherever I go.
I am saddened and embarrassed by the negative comments on previous postings. These comments are a separate issue not representative of the majority and certainly nothing to do with the reunion.
Thank you for the kindness and respect you have shown to us throughout this adventure and we look forward to seeing the finished documentary.
Warm regards,
Maggie.

I think the tv crew have a foot in every camp and I for one am not playing that game.

Read this thought you’d all like it to Esther.

but with mass deportations of Romanian Gypsys from france this week we should all very very concerned .

We’ve been treated with grace, hospitality, patience and kindness by everyone we have met and interviewed. I understand that there is suspicion that anyone making a film is looking for some way to denigrate or demean the community – to provoke an argument or a fight. That’s not the way we work – this is not another ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.’

It is our genuine aim to give a positive image of the community – to dispel some of the myths and prejudice.
We are outsiders. We are not on any side. We can only reflect what we are told and shown. That’s the good thing about being outsiders – we have no axe to grind.

This week I’m making a pitch to the Sheffield Documentary Festival, the next stage in the long process of raising money to fund our work. It’s a slow process. We might never get a commission, but we’ve taken the risk because we feel the story is worth telling.

One of the stories we want to tell is this. The old ways of the gypsy people meeting and making friendships, courting and connecting, seem to have gone. When more of the community settled and stopped travelling, the connections were broken. But these connections have been revived by the internet. The proof is in the success of the gathering at Yetholm. One of the questions this prompts is, ‘What happens next?’

As you work out new ways to define what it means to be a gypsy there will be debate about the best way to do that – whether it be through a council, a revived monarchy or some other way. Perhaps things will remain as they are. Whatever happens, it’s an interesting story.

We want to reflect that debate. We want to follow the journey you are making as you work things out. Without you we have no story to tell.
Tony Glover