Vienna-based sales outlet Autlook Filmsales has picked up global rights to documentary “Tata,” directed by Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc, set for its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
In the film, a journalist estranged from her violent father discovers that he has become a victim of work exploitation. When she agrees to help him expose the injustice, it reopens the wounds of their past.
After years of estrangement, Lina, a Moldovan journalist, receives a video message from her father, a migrant worker in Italy, showing bruises on his arms. Equipping him with a hidden camera so that he may find justice, Lina finds herself on a parallel journey — uncovering a pattern of domestic violence that has plagued her family for generations.
Filmed across Italy, Moldova and Romania, “Tata” is a raw portrait of a family locked in a relentless struggle against toxic masculinity. It tells the story of a daughter’s emotionally poignant quest to break the cycle for herself, the next generation, and even for the one who hurt her.
“Tata” is Vdovîi’s directorial debut. Vdovîi and Ciorniciuc previously collaborated on Ciorniciuc’s first feature documentary “Acasă, My Home,” which won the world cinema documentary special jury award for cinematography at Sundance 2020 and was nominated for the European Film Awards.
“Tata” is produced by Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, known for her work on award-winning documentaries such as “Between Revolutions,” “Acasă, My Home,” Berlin Golden Bear winner “Touch Me Not” and “Chuck Norris Vs. Communism.”
“We are absolutely delighted to be working again with this amazing team on such a powerful and personal film. We are sure that audiences around the globe will be able to connect with Lina’s story and are excited to be part of its journey,” Autlook’s director of sales, Andrea Hock, said.
“Tata” is produced by Manifest Film, in co-production with Corso Film, HBO and 100% Film. It is made with the support of CNC, MDR/ARTE, Film-und Medienstiftung NRW, Netherlands Film Fund, EO Docs, Eurimages, Creative Europe MEDIA. It is funded by the European Union, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Al Jazeera Documentary, American Film Showcase Documentary, UNIONDOCS, CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, ESoDoc, UCIN and ICR New York.
Autlook’s slate includes Toronto-selected “No Other Land,” directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor; Sundance-awarded “Ibelin” by Benjamin Ree (sold to Netflix); and Tribeca awarded “Searching for Amani” by Nicole Gormley and Debra Aroko.
Source Agencies
