Waiting for August is a lush slice of life, Cinéma Vérité from director Teodora Ana Mihai which sheds a brief light on economic migration as a mother leaves her 7 children to fend for themselves in Bacau, Romania while she works in Turin, Italy. We spend winter, spring, and summer with the children, who live unsupervised in a social housing condo as they take care of one another and try and make it until August, when their mother returns.
The intimate and often heart wrenching documentary focuses on 15 year old Georgiana Halmac, who is the surrogate mother of the household, cooking and cleaning for her 6 brothers and sisters. As the seasons pass, so does adolescence for Georgiana as we witness her transition into womanhood while her mother is away. We see her struggle with the sacrifice of not only her childhood for the sake of her family, but her own future as well, since taking care of her siblings often takes priority over her studying and homework.
There is a definite tension throughout the film. Watching the children go about their daily routines: getting ready for school, cooking and doing their chores to keep up appearances, knowing almost any minute something could possibly go wrong, unraveling this delicate balance. This becomes even more apparent throughout the film as Georgiana begins to resent her role, becoming more interested in boys and hanging out with her friends as teachers threaten to report the family to child protective services.
The film happens to mirror the director’s own personal journey as well. Teodora was left in Bucharest, Romania when she was 7 years old, so her parents could flee the Ceaușescu regime. Once her parents settled in Brussells they sent for her, and you can feel that in this film in how matter-of-factly she approaches the subject matter and how the children open up to her. The film has a rare naturalness to its feel where there is a complete trust between the family and the director because of her past.
Waiting for August is gorgeously shot and compelling in its narrative as the director manages to remain completely subjective in her portrayal of this situation, allowing us as an audience to draw our own conclusions. Teodora Ana Mihai also veers away from the more exploitative and salacious directions a film like this could go in, instead remaining focused on these children and their real story. The film gives economic migration a very human and relatable face in its subject Georgiana, who is the real victim here of this situation her family is in.
The film opens today in New York.