Roma filmmaker Alina Șerban broke barriers long before she set foot on the red carpet this week at the Venice Film Festival, where her feature-length directorial debut, “I Matter,” world premieres in the Venice Spotlight section.
Rising from an impoverished background to become a celebrated stage star in Romania, the actress and directing debutante has defied all odds to reach the starry heights of the Lido. Billed as the first feature from a female Roma director to screen at an A-list festival, “I Matter” marks the latest chapter in her life-long quest to reframe the narrative around her marginalized community.
Șerban, however, is taking it all in stride.
“I’m nervous about the pressure of being ‘the first’ — all the firsts,” she tells Variety. “But I also have this immense relief, and the feeling of being grateful that I managed to pull through something almost impossible.”
Inspired by Șerban’s own life, “I Matter” tells the story of a young Roma woman studying to be an actor. She’s faced with the threat of being kicked out of her orphanage and must suddenly embrace her identity and confront the reality of making it through life on her own. Based on the 2021 short of the same name, whose festival run included New Directors/New Films, it’s produced by microFILM, 2Pilots Filmproduction, Frakas Prods. and Lemming Film, with international sales handled by Pluto Film.
