Children of the Open Road (1992)
History
Drama
In 1939, after barely escaping the Nazis, a Gypsy family returns to Switzerland only to be torn apart by racial persecution in the benign guise of children's welfare. This fictionalized story of Jana, an eight-year-old Gypsy girl snatched from her parents and consigned to a life of orphanages and bleak foster homes, is based on a little-known chapter of Swiss history: From 1926 to 1972, the state-supported Pro Juventute, a children's aid foundation, forcibly removed some 700 Gypsy children from their families, in order to sever the ties with their culture and assimilate them to a "better way of life." The underlying aim was to preempt a new generation's caravans from following their nomadic traditions along Switzerland's country lanes.
Cast
Jana Kessel
Theresa Kessel
Dr. Schoenefeld
Fräulein Roth
Heinrich Hottinger
Paul Kessel
Roger Kessel
Andrina Kessel
Wahrsagerin
Crew
Director
Writer
Director of Photography
Editor
Art Direction
Costume Design
Sound
Producer
Producer
Producer
Production Manager