RULES OF THE ROAD European Cinema

“The Travellers have no place left to go. And they never knew a place where they could stay,” concludes documentary filmmaker Oliver Herbrich about the subjects of his film. For centuries the Travellers have wandered the Irish countryside in a gypsylike fashion. Tinsmiths, migrant workers, fortune tellers, and peddlers, they would do just about any work that came their way. But changing economic conditions in Ireland have nearly brought their odyssey to an end, forcing them to abandon their itinerant lives for sedentary ones. Herbrich examines the origins and history of the Travellers and chronicles the steady demise of their well-being, independence, language, and culture since the 1960s. This poignant account of the death of an ancient way of life has far-reaching implications that are not easily forgotten.-Wooten Lee