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Ada Solomon of Romanian producer MicroFilm has credits on almost 100 films, including Berlinale Golden Bear winners Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn and Calin Netzer’s Child’s Pose.
Solomon, who was elected chair of the European Film Academy last year, is now in Venice as one of the producers of Alina Șerban’s directorial debut, I Matter, which is making its world premiere in the Spotlight section.
According to Solomon, it is the first film by a Roma woman to be selected for an A-list festival. It is also the only debut film to play in the Spotlight section, and the only one by a female director.
Șerban was previously at Venice as one of the stars of Goran Stolevski’s Housekeeping For Beginnersand also starred in Cannes Acid title Alone At My Wedding.
I Matter is the story of a young Roma girl, Rebeca, on the verge of leaving the orphanage she called home, who clings to the hope her father’s release from prison will give her the family for which she has always longed. When she is accepted into university to study acting, life seems to be opening up for her until the world she comes from starts to catch up with her.
Newcomer Denisa Farcaș stars, with Sorin Mihai playing her father.
I Matter is produced by Solomon and Carla Fotea of Romania’s Microfilm; Harry Flöter and Jorg Siepmann of Germany’s 2PilotsFilmproduction; Cassandre Warnauts and Jean Yves Roubin of Belgium’s Frakas Production; and Dries Phlypo, Leontine Petit, Erik Glijnis of Lemming Film Belgium. Pluto Film is handling international sales.
You say this is the first film by a female Roma director to be accepted into a major festival? Why do you think that is?
There are [male Roma directors] like [the late] Tony Gatlif. There are Roma women breaking through now in documentaries. But this is the very first one by a woman to break through in fiction. It’sbecause of biased minds. It’s a community that has stayed unseen. It’s very strange because fantastic artists are coming from the Roma community. As with many minorities, like Native Americans, the Sami or the Inuits, they are usually represented by others.
What is the film about?
The story is fiction, but it stems from the personal background of Alina [Serban], who is a fantastic personality. She is the first one in her extended family to get a baccalaureate [from UNATA Bucharest]. She then studied at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and at RADA [Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts] in London. She’s so determined, so hardworking. She’s breaking every wall, but at the same time has this sensibility and this capacity to deliver from inside – the film is not blaming anyone, it is the story of a survivor, not a victim. It manages the emotional bond with the viewer very well, without being a dark, depressive story.
Why did you decide to produce this?
I was fascinated by her presence, her personality, and her artistic work but also her civic duty towards her own community. She continues to work with children from institutions, with workshops and theatre pieces.I met her when she was the lead actress onAlone At My Wedding, produced by Frakas in Belgium, which we minority produced. They are one of our minority co-producers on this one. We started to talk, and little by little we got closer. We made a short film [of I Matter] five years ago. The short film is very good, but it has 10% of the power of this one.
How did you fund the film?
It’s been a long process. The film was embraced by the Romanian Film Fund. The [Audiovisual Centre of the] Wallonia Bruxelles Federation were supportive of the film. It was embraced by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW fund. There was also a major contribution from ZDF and Arte. The budget was almost €1.7m.
We managed to put the financing together, but then the actual hard work started, especially for Alina. The casting process and the rehearsals took almost one year. Liliana Toma, our casting director, worked hard hand in hand with Alina. It’s notable the team is mainly women. We have a female DOP Nona Catasanu, and a female set designer, costume designer, makeup artist, editor, and sound designer. And the co-producers are majority women. Our German co-producers are men, but we needed some balance!
Were the cast and the crew from the Roma community?
The crew less [so] because this was impossible. But the cast, the lead girls and the father, are Roma. The kids from the orphanage are all from a real institution that Alina worked with.
It was another challenge to have 16 teenagers on set from the social care system who are adorable and very hardworking, but they need a lot of attention. We are bringing all 16 kids to Venice, plus the cast and the main heads of departments. It will be our celebration of the bravery of Alina. And of us as well.
Won’t that be very expensive?
It is expensive. But when I say that Alina is used to breaking walls, it is true. She managed to put together the funds to bring the kids. We have also been supported by the Romanian National Film Centre (CNC), the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Romanian Filmmakers Guild, and also the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC). At the end of the day, it’s an investment. It’s very expensive, and we are sharing rooms. On the red carpet, we will be like Cinderella, shining and looking [smart]. But in the background, we share rooms and stay together. We live as we live every day, and proudly so.
What’s next for you?
We are in final post-production with a very important film for us, a documentary by Alexandru Solomon called Small Expectations – a chronicle of Romanian society through one year of elections in 2024/25, with a lot of very weird changes and evolutions. It’s not just anchored in Romanian reality, but it resonates with everything that is going on in the world: the Russian influence and the power of social media.
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