An intimate story about a British accordion player and a Roma violinist opens the 4th AJB DOC

Catherine Harte's documentary 'Faith and Branko' is an intimate drama about two musicians who stay united by music, despite their cultural differences.

Author: Elma Ljubčić

Fascinated by Roma music, the British Faith Elliot arrived in Serbia in 2011 to learn how to play accordion. She never imagined the trip would change her life fundamentally. The meeting with the Roma violinist Branko Ristić, who taught her Roma music, resulted in mutual affection that soon grow into love, which seemed to know no language or cultural barriers.

That same year, the director Catherine Harte, who was completing her thesis in visual anthropology, visited the Roma village of Grabovica.

The three attended the same lectures. Having recognized the elements for a good story, Harte began filming a documentary about musical and lover journey of Faith and Branko.

"I was given an opportunity to do research in any country in the world, and I chose to do it in a summer school founded by Dragan Ristić, where local musicians teach their music to foreign students," says Harte in an interview for Al Jazeera.

Their connection was obvious

When she arrived in Grabovica, Branko and Faith were already there, and he was actually her teacher. It was obvious, she says, that there was some connection between them.

“They enjoyed playing together and used Google Translate to communicate. Already then, I decided to document their story. When the school was over, the two of them decided to get married and asked me to film the wedding. That's how the whole story with the film began”, explains Harte.

For the next seven years, she closely followed the lives of Faith and Branko with her camera.

The result is an intimate documentary Faith and Branko, which will open the 4th edition of the AJB DOC Film Festival on Friday, 10th September.

“I filmed events, and I had no idea how the story would evolve or how it would all end,” Harte recalls.

She admits she didn’t have a script, nor did she plan any of the scenes in the film.

“Everything is authentic. I simply filmed life, and the theme of the film changed over time,” says Harte. 

Challenges caused by cultural differences 

At first she thought it would be a story about how difficult it was to get a visa for the UK.

"I later realized that it was, in fact, a story about Faith and Branko, their relationship, their music and the challenges brought on by cultural differences."

Their differences became more prominent with Faith’s attempts to adjust to a life in Branko’s home village, and their subsequent trip to the United Kingdom, the country where they had more opportunities. The only thing that connected them was music.

Ultimately, those differences lead them to split as a couple, but not as musicians. Today, Faith and Branko remain close and continue to work professionally as a duo.

"Even though their marriage fell apart, they are still united by their music. Their band is still very strong, and after the pandemic they started playing again all over England and Serbia ", concludes Catherine.