For centuries, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer has hosted the World Famous Roma Pilgrimage. It’s a fabulous show full of color and pageantry.
Gypsies come from all over Europe to venerate their Saint. It’s also a time for reunions with family and friends. Many gypsy children are baptized in the ‘Church of the Saintes’
The celebration starts with the statue of Sara being taken from the underground crypt in the Church, it is then lifted on high by the gypsies on horseback and accompanied by Arlesiennes, clothed in brightly colored traditional costumes, proceeds down to the sea. I great opportunity for my hand-held camera.
According to Roma tradition and local legend, the two biblical Mary’s, Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Jesus, arrived by sea along with their colored servant Sara, fleeing from King Herod. The piece of Mediterranean coast they landed on became known as ‘Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer’.
The film begins on a beautiful country road just outside, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, with a family on their way to see the Gypsy pageant.
Dad misjudges a corner and the car crashes off the road and rolls down an embankment. Both parents are killed outright and their children knocked unconscious.

When the rescue services arrive, the boy Finn is still unconscious, but there’s no sign of his sister.

Finn recovers, but he’s lost his memory as a result of the accident. Flash forward ten years and Finn and his friend are going on holiday to the same area. When they arrive at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the place is full of Gypsies attending their famous festival.

The boys are intrigued by the Gypsy Camps and try to get a closer look but are chased away by a gang of Gypsy boys. Finn, however, has already spotted a young girl dancing with an older gypsy woman and feels there’s something oddly familiar about her.

Finn’s friend has been scared off, but Finn wants to know what caused his familiar feeling. The rest of the story is about how Finn pursues his beliefs and the risky adventures and dangerous places he finds himself in, as he tries to unravel that familiar feeling. The end of the film reveals that the young girl is his lost sister who he thought was dead, but in fact had been stolen by the Gypsy woman.

We shot the film with real gypsies that were attending their festival and that was an unforgettable experience.

They wouldn’t accept a contract but always arrived first at the locations which were all over The Camargue. What a privilege to work with these Gypsy families, they were the real deal.

We often sat with them round the campfire, chatting late into the evening. I think this is just one of the rich memories I took away with me, after spending three months in Provence.

‘SARA’ is in my book “Shaping the Shadows: A Picture Maker’s Story” along with many others. It is for sale from the National Library of Scotland for £10.
Also available from:
marklittlewood.org.uk
Amazon.