Movie Details
Original Language:German
Production Companies:Panorama Films CH Lichtblick Film Wega Film Vienna
Children of the Open Road
Audience Score
Plot
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 childrens welfare This fictionalized story of Jana an eightyearold Gypsy girl snatched from her parents and consigned to a life of orphanages and bleak foster homes is based on a littleknown chapter of Swiss history From 1926 to 1972 the statesupported Pro Juventute a childrens 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 generations caravans from following their nomadic traditions along Switzerlands country lanes
