Synopsis
Ukrainian filmmaker Olha Zhurba’s debut feature tells the story of Roma, who at the age of 13 became the poster child of the 2014 revolution. A street kid who ran around the front lines of Kyiv throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, Roma’s face defined an uprising. But behind the camouflage uniform, sunglasses and fearlessness hid a lonely boy from an orphanage. When Roma turns 18, his only option is returning to the streets and the company of his loyal older brother, who has resorted to crime to survive. Through phone conversations with Roma, and piecing together CCTV and archive footage, Zhurba reveals the seven-year struggle of a young man attempting to regain control of his turbulent life.
A word from Tënk
On the front line of the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, Roma is only 13 years old, but he's playing the big man and supporting the rebels, with his military uniform and his Gavroche-like voluntary walk. As an orphan in constant search of his mother, he finds a second family in the insurgents, at least temporarily. This ephemeral glory becomes chilling when we see him in the middle of the barricades, throwing projectiles before taking methamphetamine. It's a sad story of an unprotected, impressionable child in search of an identity and human warmth, whose life has predestined him for the worst. Ukrainian director Olha Zhurba focuses on the boy and leaves the events shaking her country in the background. Her subject is not the revolution, but Roma, the embodiment of a whole generation of people left behind, watched by surveillance cameras as the state attempts to intimidate this wandering youth.
Over a seven-year period, Roma grows up, is placed in an orphanage, is released when he reaches the age of majority and goes on the rampage. Olha Zhurba clings to this elusive and unpredictable character. Their razor-edge relationship takes the form of episodic telephone exchanges, unanswered calls and silences. Roma appears increasingly disconnected from reality, with no one really able to help him: once a hero of the Ukrainian revolution, he becomes disillusioned as the war in Ukraine drags on and on.
Bruno Boëz
Producer, critic and programmer
