
Octavia Bortisca / Romania / 2025 / 8 min
Petronela has been working since 2010 as a cleaning lady in a village school. During a phone conversation between mother and daughter, she reveals her struggles at work, her thoughts, fears, and hopes.
The director presents a miniature portrait of her mother through a phone interview that serves as a testimony. Heard only through her voice, the mother talks about her work as a cleaner in a school in a village in Moldova and about her plans for retirement. We discover a warm and honest person who moves the audience, while also revealing the stereotypes and prejudices associated with her profession—a character usually overlooked by society, but who here becomes a voice with something important to say.