Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival 2009

Jan Dunn's emotionally charged debut feature Gypo, tells the story of Helen (well-known British actor Pauline McLynn) and Paul, an unhappily married working-class couple in their mid forties, barely holding it together caring for their 18-year old daughter Penny’s out-of-wedlock newborn son. Their loveless marriage is shaken to the core when Tasha, a young Romany Czech refugee is befriended by Penny. While Tasha inspires xenophobic vitriol from Paul, she evokes a much warmer response from Helen who, as she grows closer to Tasha and her mother Irine (famous Czech export Rula Lenska), begins to sense the possibility of a brighter future. Notwithstanding its status as the first official UK Dogme95 film, the bare bones of Gypo’s aesthetic (no props, hand-held camera work, no additional sound, no artificial lighting, use of actual locations only) invests the narrative with a sense of authenticity and truth that is almost documentary-like in its realism. Winner of the $10,000 First Feature Award at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, Gypo is a heart-felt debut from a promising and talented new British director.

Finalist for the Soundpost Feature Film Director Award