Children of the Open Road

Overview

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.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

January 1, 1992

Original language

German

Spoken languages

german

Countries

Germany, Austria, Switzerland

Production

wega film vienna,Lichtblick Film,Panorama Films (CH),Wega Film,Panorama Films (CH), Lichtblick Film, Wega Film

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0104614