Romania, 2015. With a promise to return to her son after six months, Florentina (Tina) agrees to follow her husband Radu to Italy to work in the fields in the province of Ragusa and earn enough to provide her family with a better future. In Italy, however, Radu, blinded by the promise of promotion, convinces his wife to offer herself to the master, Carmelo. The humiliation experienced by the woman creates in her a sense of rejection for her husband, who shows jealousy and becomes convinced that for Tina "favors" to the boss are no longer a compulsion but a pleasure. Tina becomes pregnant and against Radu's wishes decides to keep the baby. She breaks off her relationship with Carmelo and returns alone to Romania, unaware that her husband has meanwhile sullied his good name and the family no longer wants to see her. The woman thus plays her last card and returns to Italy to redeem herself and do justice...
Based on a true story. A socially charged epic of a couple in which the protagonist finds the courage to rebel against the abuse of her master and husband. Defeating humiliation and making her voice heard, Tina seeks justice for herself and other immigrants.
The first element of originality lies in Nicoletta Bolos' incredible true story of her involvement in an intra-community slavery 2.0 phenomenon. Bringing this story to the honors of public debate has extreme social importance. Being based on a news story, the film will have an undeniable veracity, and the political discourse that will ensue will contribute to making Tina an original and multidisciplinary project because its fruition will take place not only in theaters but also in environments dedicated to social engagement. There are journalistic (reportage) and cinematic products (the De Serio twins' film "Spaccapietre" for example) that address the issue of exploitation, but they do so with a different point of view. First of all, they all talk about non-EU workers who end up in the yoke of the corporals; they focus on the exceptionalism and brutality of the situation, creating a sense of unease and detachment in the viewer. Tinaon the contrary wants to investigate a totally different situation: not only are the protagonists European citizens who are not illegal immigrants, but their choice to go to work in those fields and under those conditions is conscious and has a different purpose than the illegal immigrants who end up in Italian fields to escape their home state. The protagonists of TINA choose to go to work in Sicily to return to their country, with a different social status. Premise and purpose are different and constitute an element of originality. The context of the story is also original: not the tent city/shantytown that we are used to seeing on the news, but a farmhouse where the laborers maintain a dignity (a common context fortunately in our countryside) and also manage to organize moments of sharing, being able to even recover some of the traditions of their countries of origin. The brutality in this story comes from the behavior of some of the characters, first and foremost Radu, Tina's husband who asks her to prostitute herself with the false promise of having a common purpose for the family good. Another point of originality is the way of narrating femininity. Having a female author like Simona Nobile who is attentive to gender issues with a European outlook helps the project reach an essential and profound level of storytelling of the feminine through the two emblematic characters of Tina and the gynecologist. Tina is a woman in love. Of her children first and foremost, of her husband, of her family dream, of her land. Everything she does she does out of love. The realization that gradually creeps in that she has on her side a man who instead wants to exploit her only for his own interests makes her a woman determined to defend her dream, unleashing a courage that leads her to perform the heroic acts that follow. Tina encapsulates feminine fragility and determination; she is a mother and wife who is willing to do anything for her family but who, when she realizes that she is a tool for her husband's selfish and utilitarian ends, rebels and pulls out a hitherto unexpected strength. The gynecologist, on the other hand, represents a different type of woman, more rational but equally determined. Without her Tina would not have had the courage to rebel against her husband by keeping the baby, and without that act she would never have found the strength to rebel against her fate. The way of narrating the family is also original. We do not have the usual dysfunctional family or one torn by drama. We have a usual family, seemingly in harmony, but hiding a negative element, the father, who presents himself as the one who wants to ensure the welfare of his children, when in fact he only aims at personal gain by proving himself capable even of sacrificing his wife for his own purposes.
The quality of the writing comes from the direct relationship established with Nicoleta Bolos, the real-life protagonist of the story. Added to this depth are all the timely elements about Romanian culture that will be added by co-writer Florin Lazarescu.
Francesca Portalupi (Responsabile sviluppo).