Two years after releasing the micro-budget LGBT drama Several Conversations About a Very Tall Girl, which earned four Gopo Award nominations in 2019, Romanian director Bogdan Theodor Olteanu returns to the limelight with a new independent, female-centred drama, Mia Misses Her Revenge [+leggi anche:
trailer
intervista: Bogdan Theodor Olteanu
scheda film]. The exclusively Romanian project was produced by Anamaria Antoci and Anda Ionescu through Tangaj Production, and co-produced by Sub25 and Papillon Film. The film will shortly world-premiere in the 1-2 Competition of this year’s Warsaw International Film Festival (9-18 October).

Promoted as a “darkly comic revenge story”, the film, written by Olteanu, follows Mia (Ioana Bugarin, also seen earlier this year playing the most eye-catching part in Ruxandra Ghiţescu’s Otto the Barbarian [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Ruxandra Ghiţescu
scheda film]), a young actress who is plunged into a deep emotional crisis after her jealous boyfriend slaps her across the face during a fight. Mia plans to make a self-taped sex video so that she can get back at him, but her endeavour may prove more complicated than expected. As her friends either congratulate or blame her for her decision, it soon becomes obvious that everyone close to her has a very strong opinion about what happened, which enables Olteanu to explore what he calls “the (im)possibility of empathy”.

Mia is a rare Romanian independent film, made with absolutely no support from the Romanian National Film Center. The project had a fragmented shoot, taking place in June, July and September 2019 in Bucharest, with Ana Drăghici serving as DoP. Maria Popistaşu, Ana Maria Guran, Carol Ionescu, Adrian Nicolae and Alexandru Ion play other significant characters in the film.

Here is how the director describes the challenges faced by the protagonist: “Mia struggles with more than just revenge: she is grasping for autonomy in a society that imposes the exact opposite. She is part of the first generation of young Romanian women seeking empowerment and articulating their need for it. In a quest that is as serious in its liberating power as it is playful in light of the unfolding events, Mia’s road to revenge also reveals other similar women, as well as stories that pave the way for a look at this new shift in perspective. As well as following Mia's pursuit, the film attempts to reflect on the effects of violence, and subsequently, it questions the (im)possibility of empathy.”