Looking Elsewhere to Film and Capture Life: Transnational Journeys, Nomadism, and Cultural Métissage in Tony Gatlif’s Cinema

The films of Tony Gatlif are often linked to issues of exile and migration, and address multiple representations of the Other. He is seen by many as the voice of the Roma communities in Europe. This article explores these issues further, and looks specifically at the broader transnational dimension of cultural métissage, or blending, found in Gatlif‘s films, in order to understand the treatment of deterritorialization and nomadism in his films as a way of life. It relates these themes to his own identity as an original transnational European filmmaker who is on the move, always looking elsewhere for new images and sounds to transform into films. Specific attention is paid to his films Gadjo dilo / The Crazy Stranger (1997), Vengo / I Come (2000), Exils / Exiles (2004), Transylvania (2006), and Indignados / The Outraged (2012).