Roma Director Alina Șerban Premieres 'I Matter' at Venice — SkimNews
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- Alina Șerban world-premiered 'I Matter' at the Venice Film Festival's Spotlight section, billed as the first feature from a female Roma director to screen at an A-list festival
- "I Matter" is inspired by Șerban's own life, following a young Roma woman studying to be an actor who faces being kicked out of her orphanage; it expands her 2021 short that ran at New Directors/New Films
- The film stars newcomer Denisa Farcaș and is produced by microFILM, 2Pilots Filmproduction, Frakas Prods., and Lemming Film, with Pluto Film handling international sales
- Nearly two dozen cast members — including 16 child performers from the film's orphanage scenes — will attend the Venice premiere, with Roma band Mahala Rai Banda performing on the red carpet
- Șerban was raised in poverty in Bucharest, placed in a state-run orphanage, and became the first in her family to graduate high school, later attending Bucharest's Academy of Theatrical Arts, NYU Tisch, and earning a master's from RADA London
- Șerban told Variety she's 'nervous about the pressure of being the first' but expressed 'immense relief' at pulling through 'something almost impossible,' and called the premiere 'a moment of celebration' for the Roma community
Why it matters: The premiere marks a rare milestone for Roma visibility on cinema's biggest stages: Șerban — who went from a Bucharest orphanage to graduate degrees at NYU and RADA — brings nearly two dozen cast members, including 16 child performers, to walk Venice's red carpet and reframe Roma storytelling around 'dignity' and 'celebration' rather than victimhood.
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