Gáj

Original title: Gáj
English title: Gaj
Genre: an ethnographic film
Language: Czech

An ethnographic film on the seeds of Czechness in distant lands

2009, 37 min.

“Tata i mama jsou Češi. Co se stydíš. Nestyď se…”

Synopsis

Ninety years ago, the Frič family longed for change. They left Gerník, the harsh life of the mountainous Banat, the southern spur of the Romanian Carpathians, and descended into the more fertile plains along the mighty Danube. Others soon followed.

The Gaj Czechs are the last compact group that settled the Serbian Banat. Compared to the purely Czech Gerník, they no longer have to trudge up the hills to the fields, but they have become a minority here. How did this change affect subsequent generations as the decades progressed?

The film is the result of a CULS research project “Countrymen: Seeking for Czech Footprints in Eastern Europe”.

Technical specifications