Toto and His Sisters

Toto şi surorile lui

DIRECTOR: Alexander Nanau   COUNTRY: Romania   YEAR: 2014   LANGUAGE(S): Romanian   SUBTITLES: English  RUNNING TIME: 93 min  

SECTION: Internationales Forum 2015

SYNOPSIS

10-year-old Toto and his two sisters have to get through life on their own: Their father is absent, their mother is in jail because of drug-dealing. The only other adults around them use their apartment as a drug den. They are outcast from Romanian society because they are Roma. Andreea, who is 15, refuses to accept this and does everything she can so that they can have a better life.

There are many films about Roma but few of them develop such an intimate, warm and respectful perspective as this one. Alexander Nanau has succeeded in making a wonderful documentary about the children’s resilience, their solidarity and their longing for intimacy and protection. Often, the director observes his young protagonists as they look at a world which doesn’t see them. They seem to despair of a society that refuses to look after them and keeps letting them down. But miracles do happen: Andreea acts and Toto dances – a life beyond the restrictions stipulated by their origins suddenly seems possible.

ALEXANDER NANAU
Alexander Nanau lived in Romania until he was 10 when his family moved to Germany. He returned to Romania in 2007 where he studied Directing at the Film and Television Academy in Berlin. He held a fellowship at the Sundance Institute. His documentary film, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ION B. received an International Emmy Award in 2010.

FILMOGRAPHY

Peter Zadek inszeniert Peer Gynt (2006), Die Welt gesehen von Ion B. (2009), Toto and His Sisters (2014)

SCRIPT: Alexander Nanau   PRODUCERS: Bianca Oana, Valeriu Nicolae, Marcian Lazar, Catalin Mitulescu, Hanka Kastelicova, Carmen Harabagiu, Antony Root   CAMERA: Alexander Nanau EDITORS: Alexander Nanau, George Cragg, Mircea Olteanu

PRODUCTION: Strada Film, HBO Hungary   WORLD SALES: Youn Ji, AUTLOOK FILMSALES