GYPO

Year: 2005
UK: Lionsgate UK
Cast: Pauline McLynn, Paul McGann, Rula Lenska, Chloe Sirene, Tamzin Dunstone, Barry Latchford, Freddie Connor, Tom Stuart, Olegar Fedoro, Sean Wilton, Angelica O'Reilly, Rebecca Clow, Majid Iqbal, Ashley McGuire, Josef Altin, Charlotte Edmundson, Jonathan Howlett, Ruby McLynn, Lisa Payne, Natalie Sewell, Carys Nia Williams, Leane Grant, Claire Angus, James Blanchard, Oliver Tatt, Christiane Bjørg Nielsen, James Thomas, Mark Keffe, Stuart Jarvis, Clara Clow, Milo Hertz
Director: Jan Dunn
Country: UK
UK: 98 mins
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language and racism theme
UK Release Date: 20 October 2006 (Limited Release)


Synopsis

The first ever UK Dogme95 feature film, GYPO has been written and directed by independent filmmaker, Jan Dunn. The film stars WITHNAIL & I's, Paul McGann, ANGELA'S ASHES, Pauline McLynn and Rula Lenska, as well as newcomers Chloe Sirene and Tamzin Dunstone.

Helen (Pauline McLynn) has been married to Paul (Paul McGann) for 25 years. She lives a monotonous and frozen existence. Helen is desperate, damaged, and looking for change...

Paul on the other hand is on the brink of a breakdown, sick and tired of being in the poverty trap. Bitter, hypocritical, and bigoted, Paul's biggest fear is change...

Into their lives comes Tasha (Chloe Sirene), a Romany Czech refugee, awaiting her British passport and her chance for freedom - a concept taken for granted by all those around her.

GYPO, told in three revelatory narratives, each from a particular character's point of view, reveals how the disintegration of an ordinary working class family finally comes to a head when unexpected emotions are unleashed.

An innovative, gripping and engaging journey into the heart of a dysfunctional British family on the Kent coast, GYPO reveals how suburban fears and tabloid sensationalism have come to perpetuate the myths surrounding refugees.

GYPO adheres to the Dogme95 rules of chastity, and is shot in a pseudo-documentary style that tells the story of the disintegration of an ordinary family when the teenage daughter befriends a Czech refugee girl. With the internationally contentious subject of asylum seekers as a backdrop the film is shot entirely around the Kent coastal region of Thanet.