Clejani stories

Since the recent demise of violinist Nicolae Neacsu, one of the star musicians of the Taraf de Haïdouks, the atmosphere in Clejani, a Southern gipsy village in Romania, is drenched in nostalgia. As if Neacsu dragged with him the last remains of a just about bearable world into the hereafter. The young musicians who stayed behind are out of work, they pass away their despair with drugs and dreams of the West, every day they sleep off their high on sofas in gaudy colours. As Marius, the accordionist puts it: “people live of promises and hope”. There is only one thing they can do: wander around during summer, in order to beat hibernation. Money won, stolen, borrowed or exchanged, it seems like the only means to turn the tide. In order to overcome their deadlock some are capable of anything.