This clip is part of a 11-minute short movie co-created in 2022 by Pepi Mustafov , author of The Sky and Earth Know, together with several dear friends from the movement ATD Fourth World. In it, Pepi takes you on a walk in our Roma quarter (also called “mahala) in the aftermath of its partial demolition and shares some of its history. You can watch the full movie on our website (link in bio).
Special thank-you to our friends: activist Simeon Brand (conducting the interview) and film-maker Maria Dacheva (behind the camera.)
This clip is part of a 11-minute short movie co-created in 2022 by Pepi Mustafov, author of The Sky and Earth Know, together with several dear friends from the movement ATD Fourth World. In it, Pepi takes you on a walk in our Roma quarter (also called “mahala) in the aftermath of its partial demolition and shares some of its history. You can watch the full movie on our website (link in bio).
Special thank-you to our friends: activist Simeon Brand (conducting the interview) and film-maker Maria Dacheva (behind the camera.)
This clip is part of a 11-minute short movie co-created in 2022 by Pepi Mustafov, author of The Sky and Earth Know, together with several dear friends from the movement ATD Fourth World. In it, Pepi takes you on a walk in our Roma quarter (also called “mahala) in the aftermath of its partial demolition and shares some of its history. You can watch the full movie on our website (link in bio).
Special thank-you to our friends: activist Simeon Brand (conducting the interview) and film-maker Maria Dacheva (behind the camera.)
The Roma spirit is unbreakable: even with centuries of unspeakable violence, the destruction of lives and homes, abject poverty, surviving from one day to the next; the Romani never lose their connection to life and joy.
This clip is part of a 11-minute short movie co-created in 2022 by Pepi Mustafov, author of The Sky and Earth Know, together with several dear friends from the movement ATD Fourth World. In it, Pepi takes you on a walk in our Roma quarter (also called “mahala) in the aftermath of its partial demolition and shares some of its history. You can watch the full movie on our website (link in bio).
Special thank-you to our friends activist Simeon Brand (conducting the interview) and film-maker Maria Dacheva (behind the camera.)
This is the intro to a 11-minute short movie co-created in 2022 by Pepi Mustafov, author of The Sky and Earth Know, together with several dear friends from the movement ATD Fourth World. In it, Pepi takes us on a walk in our Roma quarter (or Roma mahala) in the aftermath of its partial demolition and shares some of its history.
This song by Romani singer Čita drips with regret. What happens when you obey your parents and don’t marry the one you want but the one they choose for you? In Čita’s words, “I cannot sleep,” “I have no joy,” “I’m a big fool.”
🎶 To listen to the full song and read the lyrics in Romanes as well as the English translation, head over to our Roma Music section where we publish a song every Friday. 🔗 Link in our bio.
A heavy song by the king of Roma music Čita, about the singular kind of loneliness, frailty, and knowing of old age.
🎶 To listen to the full song and read the lyrics in Romanes as well as the English translation, head over to our Roma Music section where we publish a song every Friday. 🔗 Link in our bio.
A snippet from “I want nothing from God” - a short but powerful song by Romani legend from Kosovo @cita_kral_ : a man mourning the death of his mother.
🎶 To listen to the full song and read the lyrics in Romanes as well as the English translation, head over to our Roma Music section where we publish a song every Friday. 🔗 Link in our bio.
Original audio
Liked by
pepimustafov
and 19 others
theskyandearthknow's profile picture
A snippet from “Zhani” - This song by Altin Tirona shows something very typical of Roma culture: when the intensity of the love you feel for someone (a daughter, a husband, a father) is so strong and conscious that all you can do is cry… and drink. In our tribe, it is a common sight at gatherings for someone to burst into tears, out of love. A father hugs his son and they both cry to the song that is now playing and sip on their drink. A grandmother cries for her granddaughter while cradling her. Siblings cry for each other.
At first glance, this can look like grief. An outsider might wonder if someone is dying. The song below, a father who drinks and cries for his daughter Zhani, also could be mistaken for alienation. But no, this is not the case. There’s no separation, no death or sickness, only love.
Love itself is an intense feeling. This is why mainstream culture masks it with sentimentality and tries to tame it with control and all kinds of rules. Very few people allow themselves to feel it and to let it flow through them. The Romani are not sentimental in their love. They’re authentic.
🎶 To listen to the full song and read the lyrics in Romanes as well as the English translation, head over to our Roma Music section where we publish a song every Friday. 🔗 Link in our bio.
A snippet from “Dajakiri dukh” - a duet by Ali Bajram and an unnamed female singer that enacts a heavy conversation between a brother and a sister. The brother went far away to work and build a life. But their mother fell sick with sorrow.
The sister calls with a heart-wrenching “She’s sick.” This is probably one of the strongest openings of a song we’ve ever heard. It makes everything around you disappear as you listen to her words.
🎶 To listen to the full song and read the lyrics in Romanes as well as the English translation, head over to our Roma Music section where we publish a song every Friday. 🔗 Link in our bio.
A snippet from “Two eyes” - a 1995 song by Romani band Tik Tak from Bulgaria, which captures the timeless simplicity and intensity of love. In the throes of heartbreak after a separation, the man sings in sentences that are short and often incomplete, but they speak volumes. “To hold your hands.” “To kiss your lips.” “To look into your eyes.”
🎶 To listen to the full song and read the lyrics in Romanes as well as the English translation, head over to our Roma Music section where we publish a song every Friday. 🔗 Link in our bio.
A snippet from “I wanted from God” - a beautiful and poignant song by Romani singer from Bulgaria, Sasho Jokera. A man who prayed to God for a daughter but instead, had a son. The longing and grief are palpable in his words, as are his son’s heartbreak and alienation.
🎶 To listen to the full song and read the lyrics in Romanes as well as the English translation, head over to our Roma Music section where we publish a song every Friday. 🔗 Link in our bio.
