Not a single gypsy would agree to the main role.
Emil Loteanu’s film “The Camp Goes to Heaven” still remains one of the most popular Soviet films. It was purchased by more than a hundred countries – no other film in the USSR managed to achieve such a result.
Even while working on the script, the director knew that the main roles in the film would be played by Moldovans Svetlana Toma and Grigore Grigoriu. Loteanu knew these artists well and had already worked with them before. But the real ones would never be able to play Rada.
The fact is that some scenes turned out to be completely unacceptable for them. So, in one of the episodes, the girl appears half-naked before the horse thief Loiko. This is unacceptable for an unmarried gypsy woman. Nor would they ridicule the man in front of everyone, as the Rada did.
The director studied the customs of the camps very well, so he knew in advance that the role he invented could only be played by a non-gypsy woman.