Waiting for August

Synopsis

Georgiana Halmac, the eldest daughter of her family, is turning fifteen this winter. She lives with her six siblings in a social housing condo on the outskirts of Bacau (Romania). Their mother Liliana, an economic migrant in Torino, will not be back till the summer.

During mother’s absence, Georgiana is catapulted into the role of new head of the family. Her adolescence is brutally cut short, when she becomes responsible for her brothers and sisters. Caught between puberty and responsibilities, she moves ahead improvising. Phone conversations with her mom, plus the conflicting values of religion on the one hand, and commercial TV channels on the other, are her only guidelines. Intimate scenes from the daily life of Georgiana and her siblings will show us—uncensored, in fly-on-the-wall style— how real events are experienced and interpreted with great imagination by these children. One is bound to be amazed by their great ingenuity, while also realizing how fragile their daily balance is.

 

Awards

Honorary Mention – Vision du Réel, CH
Best International Feature Documentary – Hot Docs 2014, CA
Best Long Documentary – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2014, CZ
Balkan Best Newcomer – Dokufest, Kosovo
Best International Feature Documentary – Valdivia International Film Festival, CL
Best International Documentary – Bergen International Film Fest, NO
Best Documentary, Romanian competition – Astra Film Festival, RO
Environmental Award «A Different Tomorrow» – Reykjavik International Film Festival, IS
SBC Award for Best International Documentary – Antenna Documentary Film Festival, AU
Award «Let them be children» – Budapest International Documentary Festival, HU
Special Mention – Batumi International Art-House Film Festival, GE
Best International Feature Documentary – Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, US

Credits

Director
Teodora Ana Mihai
Producer
Hanne Phlypo & Antoine Vermeesch
Camera
Joachim Philippe
Mihnea Popescu
Sound
Felix Blume & Bruno Schweissgut
Editing
Michèle Hubinon
Sound design
Fred Meert
Mix 
Paul Heymans
Grading
Veerle Zeelmaekers
Original music
Karim Baggili
Editing trailer
Stijn Deconinck

Partners

A Private View

Flanders Audiovisual Fund

Centre du cinéma de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

Flanders Image

Canvas

Fonds Pascal Decroos