Twenty years after the Romanian Revolution, Tavi, a small business owner in his late thirties, manages to read his secret service file and finds out about a potential son he never knew of. His ex-girlfriend Roxanne supposedly gave birth to a son named Viktor a few months after the couple’s break-up. To get closure eventually, nice but slightly immature Tavi starts his own investigations. However, as things go further, he discovers more and more complicated facts about the past and finally gets to know the ugly truth that not only turns his life upside down, but also the lives of his closest family and friends. For the first time in his life he has to make mature and significant decisions like an adult. Roxanne, the feature film debut of Valentin Hotea, is a story about friendship, betrayal and courage. Based on the director’s personal experiences, this movie is about the effect mistakes from the past can have on one’s present life and even upon future generations. Last but not least, the questions arise of how to avoid a truth that will do such harm and even ruin one’s life and what intense influence politics can have on private matters. A realistically staged and straight political drama that was last featured in the main competition of Locarno.
Director Roxanne
Valentin Hotea
Ileana Muntean, Vali Hotea
Şerban Pavlu, Diana Dumbravă, Mihai Călin, Valeria Seciu, Adrian Văncică
Feature Film Competition, School Cinema
Romania 2013
Romanian, with English subtitles
98 min