The camera is there when the fatherless Roma children visit their mother in prison. She’s been sentenced for selling drugs. It’s also there when the two uncles, who now have to look after young Toto (10) and his sisters Andreea (14) and Ana (17), shoot heroin in their cramped apartment in Bucharest. And when Ana breaks her promise and starts using again. The documentary immerses us (without comment) in the intense life of Andreea in particular. Like a surrogate mother, she tries to keep Ana and Toto on the rails. Sometimes she expresses her feelings in front of the camera in a video diary. Hope comes from Romanian institutions: a training course that uses tolerance to help the semi-illiterate Andreea and completely illiterate Toto focus on the lessons; an orphanage that offers a safer haven than the filthy drug den at home; and above all a hip-hop dance group that taps hidden talents in Toto. With Critics’ Talk on Wed 28-1 in the lobby.
Film details
Productieland
Romania
Jaar
2014
Festivaleditie
IFFR 2015
Lengte
93'
Medium/Formaat
DCP
Taal
Romanian
Première status
None
Director
Alexander Nanau
Producer
Hanka Kastelicová, Valeriu Nicolae, Alexander Nanau, Catalin Mitulescu, Bianca Oana
Editing
George Cragg, Alexander Nanau, Mircea Olteanu
Screenplay
Alexander Nanau
Cinematography
Alexander Nanau
Sound design
Matthias Lempert
Production company
HBO Europe, Strada Film, Alexander Nanau Production