For centuries the Romani people evolved tightly-knit family structures that ensured ethnic survival against discrimination including slavery and genocide. Arranged marriages were central to establishing these inter-family ties around which Gypsy life revolves to this day.
When the Toronto Romani community undergoes a baffling rise in drug use and divorce Romani leader Micheal Butch is on the case. When his own family begins to break apart Micheal must search his community’s past for answers.
“THE SHAPE OF A HEART – A Gypsy Love Story” is a long form vérité documentary chronicling Micheal Butch’s struggle with the changes taking place within himself and his community. Filmed over three years the documentary is an intensely intimate portrait of a family caught up in the shifting tides of desires and fears within the Romani community of Toronto.