IDFA 2017
Toto and His Sisters
Toto si surorile lui
Alexander Nanau
Romania
2014
93 min
n.a.
Nine-year-old Toto lives with his teenage sisters Ana and Andreea in a barely habitable apartment building on the outskirts of Bucharest. Totoās mother has been in prison for drug dealing for over four years, and his uncles use the apartment as a meeting place to sell and take drugs. In this close-up portrait of three Roma children at the bottom end of society, German-Romanian filmmaker Alexander Nanau tells the story largely from their perspective, at a childās eye level. He includes footage from Andreeaās video diary, filmed with a camera he provided. The result is an intimate and moving impression of the childrenās daily lives. We see Toto on a filthy sofa bed, lying next to someone shooting up. We go with him to the "childrenās club," where he learns not only reading and telling time, but also street dance. Will he manage to free himself from the clutches of poverty and stay away from drugs? Until the very end, we are torn between hoping for the best and fearing the worst.
Credits
Director
Editing
Alexander Nanau,
Mircea Olteanu,
George Cragg
Alexander Nanau,
Mircea Olteanu,
George Cragg
Cinematography
World Sales
Autlook Filmsales
Autlook Filmsales
Screening copy
Autlook Filmsales
Autlook Filmsales
Executive producer
Bianca Oana,
Carmen Harabagiu,
Antony Root
Bianca Oana,
Carmen Harabagiu,
Antony Root
Sound
Florian Ardelean
Florian Ardelean
Sound Design
Matthias Lempert
Matthias Lempert
Involved TV Channel
HBO Europe
HBO Europe
Co-production
Nanau Production
Nanau Production