Original subtitles

- Mum, we only want to sing until 9. - I don't know, let's see.

Only for 15 minutes.

Just do it, why are you so upset?

Come on, just stay until they begin.

- Ready? - Good evening, Daddy!

We've been missing you a lot,

so we prepared a little show for you with songs and poems.

But first I want to introduce you to a friend.

Mum gave me this parrot for my birthday.

Her name is Kira and she's a bit mean.

She's not used to us yet. Look.

Daddy, I'll sing you a song, not in Moldovan, but in Spanish.

It's called Canción para Ana.

25 years ago, my father left to work abroad.

We communicated through VHS tapes that reached him in Italy by bus.

After he left, our home was finally quiet.

Daddy, I want to show you something I learned in acting class.

Valerica rehearsed with me, and she learned it too.

A little tiny cat...

Here's some milk to lap up!

And a doggy, too -

At 18, I left the country too,

to become a journalist,

and our conversations became increasingly rare.

When he called, I felt a heaviness in my chest,

as if something bad was about to happen.

To live without fear, I avoided him as much as I could.

Then I got a troubling message from him.

See, Lina, this is what my life in Italy looks like.

Help me, please.

FATHER

You've packed both cameras, right? Just to be sure.

Yes, I got it.

- And the lapel mics? - Yes.

Will we need lighting and stuff?

No, we're ready.

Are you ready to meet him, though?

I met Radu, my partner, when we worked together in a newsroom.

I asked him to come with me, though he only knew my dad from my stories.

I needed someone I could feel safe with.

Mr. Pavel, the GPS guided us to a bridge.

Go under that bridge.

In 100 metres you'll go right.

The road goes on, you follow the hedge.

How lovely, is this where your dad lives?

On this property, but they have a different entrance.

He's in the workers' wing.

Hello, dears!

- How are you? - How did the trip go?

Are you dead tired or still got something in you?

Hello, sweetie, how are you?

- Hi. - You're so thin, poor thing!

Wow, olive trees!

These are the plants I'm taking care of.

- What are they? - Wild lemon and orange trees.

You as a little girl?

As a little girl, yes.

This was the end-of-school party.

The 12-th grade prom?

Right after, I left for the United States.

Then I moved to Iași, Romania, for university.

That was the end of it.

We never lived together after that.

Look there.

- He was a sailor back then. - He looked so different.

Yeah, well, he's older.

This is my yard, I pass through here every day on my way to work.

Well, of course, since it's at the front.

These are the vineyards.

And there...

The forest belongs to the owners as well.

And there we have - don't film the truck, please!

What's here?

This is where I work.

I don't want to get in trouble.

And here...

This is the main entrance.

I'm not allowed to use it. I just sweep and mow the lawn.

I do what needs doing.

The agreement with the owners is

that I don't pay rent in exchange for all the cleaning and gardening.

But I pay for my gas.

I saw a car.

- What? - A car just passed.

Oh, that's the boss.

He might see us. Radu, let's go!

What happened? I don't understand.

She saw a car.

We should leave now, I don't want him to see us filming.

You should've told me as soon as you saw the car.

Did he park?

No, I just saw a car driving by.

Did you see him parking?

I don't know, Dad, he just passed by.

Let's wait here until he leaves.

I'll check if he's in the backyard.

My father has always been pride personified.

For his generation, emotions are a sign of weakness.

Men have to appear strong and confident.

They must rule their family with an iron fist.

No signal.

I have no coverage here either.

I didn't check if there's a signal.

What happened to you here?

I'm going to tell you something.

People who came here first,

people who came here at... a certain age,

they came here to work.

Then, of course, you get oppressed,

you get hounded, you get disrespected, you get...

It's like you're nothing.

My boss is really strict.

It even bothers him how I hold the broom handle!

"That's no way to sweep! You call that sweeping?"

"You call that piling the rubbish? You call that holding a handle?"

That's no way to tidy up, no way to mop the floor,

he'd pick on anything.

"That's no way of walking!" How am I supposed to walk?

Or he'd imitate me.

I'd just be walking and he'd be laughing:

"What kind of walking is that?"

"At your age, you can't walk like a normal human?"

Then he took to twisting my arm,

grabbing me and saying "I could tear you to pieces."

I go back home with bruised arms.

I even took photos of them.

Bruises on my arms, bruises on my neck...

Sometimes he hits my head, comes up from behind and goes bam!

Just like that!

How could I tell that to your mother, to you, to my brother back home?

Once it turned really bad.

Really bad. He came at me to beat me up!

He shoved me, my glasses flew off.

Good thing they didn't break, they're expensive.

Why didn't you go to the police or something?

Baby, it's complicated.

You can go to the police, sure, but...

You need witnesses.

He told me to my face, "File all the complaints you want."

"I can afford lawyers, you can't."

"Let's see you manage without money," he said.

Yes, he abuses me. He does!

Physically, morally, mentally.

Financially, too. He abuses me in every way.

He abuses you and then he mocks you, laughs at you.

You may be angry with me, our relationship may not be the best,

you may not be happy with me, but I think you have to have the...

The heart to help me.

Writing about this, filming it, so I can get out of this.

I can't take this anymore.

You're the only one I can...

I can't.

As a journalist, I have always sought to expose violence.

To give voice to people who suffer because of others.

I wrote about war,

about tortured prisoners,

about immigrant workers, like my father, humiliated and abused by employers.

It was only later that I realised I chose my stories

because I was trying to understand the violence in my family.

Why did my father hurt us so much?

I have no idea what the hell to do.

Well...

What would you have done if this had been someone else?

He's at the door, listening.

Here, baby, these are all the documents I've gathered,

in the last 12 years I've worked for this man.

Here are the official hours I got paid for,

and here are the unofficial ones.

I had to write them down separately,

because he paid them separately, look.

See the differences between the two tables.

Please, if you can,

give me an idea, help me somehow.

Or find someone who can help me.

What's up?

No one would take the case without solid evidence.

The controls are intuitive enough.

It won't show from the pocket.

I'm worried his employer might notice.

There's always that risk.

It's the same model you used.

The one I used in Ukraine, right?

Did you wear it in your bag or under your shirt?

Under my shirt.

That's a bit more complicated.

It's harder to frame, to control what you're framing.

Essential things can happen, and if you fail to film them...

It happened to fellows of mine.

They gathered camera evidence and it didn't hold in court.

Because of the poor picture, the corrupted sound...

We'll give him a tutorial tomorrow.

This is the main part of the camera.

Keep it in your pocket.

This is the lens.

It does the filming and goes here.

- Here, can you see? - Yes.

You see, right? Here, for example.

There, see?

It films from chest level.

You turn it on when you feel that...

When things get hot.

- The same button turns it off. - I see.

When I'm in that house, I feel like...

Like the walls are coming down on me, suffocating me.

It's strange, it's such a beautiful place.

- I don't... - Such a beautiful house.

- You can rest for one hour. - One hour, yes.

Don't answer!

Why not?

Oh God!

Wait and see, he'll start calling us every day.

My father is obsessed with knowing what the people around him do,

he thinks everyone must report to him.

I don't know how to call it...

Control freak.

- He does it to your mother, too? - To everyone!

You couldn't do anything without him knowing.

For example, we had a landline phone.

At the end of the month, when we got the invoice, he wanted the call list,

the numbers we had called, duration, time of call, date, etc.

He'd come to me with the list and say "Who called this number?"

And I'd say "I did. I called Mariana, my desk mate."

"What could you possibly talk about for 23 minutes?" I had no clue.

I didn't know!

"Where were you all that time?"

"Your acting class ends at 2.30. Why did you get home at 3?"

"It only takes you ten minutes to get home from Art School."

And?

Sometimes you're like that too.

Not like that, believe me.

I am not like that, Radu.

I'm just saying, sometimes...

If I was like that, you wouldn't be with me.

Are you telling me you could put up with that?

You leave, you don't call me, you don't speak with me at all.

- I know you don't want to know. - Yeah, right, I don't.

That's the thing, I...

I give you all the freedom I can, because I know

what it's like to be suffocated.

The last one to tell me I was like my father

was my ex-husband, who left me just five months after the wedding.

It made me realise my father's violence had always been a part of me,

like an invisible hand or an extra lung.

Out of fear of being hurt, I caused suffering to the people I loved.

To escape the violence, I had to look inside myself.

If I hadn't done that then, I couldn't help my father now.

There he is now.

Dad's boss appears here.

Four hours, you get paid for four hours.

But you...

Yes, but...

They're talking about money, right?

He's paying him.

Taking it out of his wallet.

- What's that? - 361.

361 euro.

He actually gives him one euro.

There's our evidence! Undocumented pay!

This is super-important, let me mark it.

These are from the labour union.

With all his registered work hours.

In their record.

Then there are the hours Dad actually worked.

And the difference.

Here are the hours worked on top of the standard.

Contributions weren't paid for these.

- Yes. - Pension contributions.

It should be easy to prove, if you look at his production in those months.

What, he packaged a million wine bottles with two employees on four hours a day?

I wanted to look at another file.

Hello, my little girl, Lina. Today I want to talk to you.

I thought I should tell you some things I never could say.

Sometimes I'm depressed too, I want you to know that.

I am a man, but I'm not made of iron.

A lot of times...

A lot of times, I feel very, very bad,

and, to be honest, in those moments I can't call you.

I'm worried I might start crying.

You were little, I barely spoke with you, and your mother knew why.

I would talk a little and choke up.

I couldn't speak without tearing up

and feeling a lump in my throat.

Then I had to stop so you wouldn't see it.

I think we should forgive each other

for things we've done in our lives.

Your father...

Father loves you all and wishes you all the best.

All my life I've waited for my dad to tell me these things.

To show me, in his own way, that he loves me.

His attempt to bridge the gap comes as another life grows in me.

- Can you see the baby's gender? - I didn't check.

Let's find out together.

Yes, it's a girl.

You can see it here.

Here are the legs, the knees and the soles.

One, two.

- Is that her leg? - Yes, a femur.

Look, the liver, the stomach, the spine.

The message from my dad and the child inside me

make me see the past in a different, unexpected light.

I want to return to Moldova, the place I fled from,

to understand where the violence in our family comes from.

Show him your grades.

The schoolbags he sent you, too.

The fear of my father is the feeling I remember best from my childhood.

The fear of being beaten when the house wasn't tidy.

When I got a lower grade at school.

When neither we sisters nor our mother were perfect.

Daddy!

Look.

Today I got a 10 for that poem I recited you.

Last week I got a 9.

I hope you are pleased with my grades.

This is the schoolbag you sent me. It's torn a bit here.

I really like it, and I hope it will last for a long time.

It's already the second year I've been using it.

I went to Italy to help him, but the meeting triggered me,

reminded me he wasn't always the victim.

You tell me, let's talk about it.

What did I do to deserve beatings?

What did my sisters do that was so bad?

You call those "beatings"?

You whipped us with your trouser belt!

The last time you beat us was when I tried to defend myself.

It was just meant to scare you!

So it's normal to scare children with beatings?

Instead of explaining patiently, saying:

"This is wrong, if you do this, it will cause that."

Let me ask this again, make sure I get it.

I'll ask again:

You never understood your dad worked four jobs

to put food on the family table?

You think I had the time to sit down and talk,

two hours of explaining with each of you girls?

What's the point in trying so hard,

doing well in school, getting awards,

if inside you feel like you don't deserve anything?

Just to prove to someone that you're worth anything at all?

Why, if you're miserable inside?

Where do you think these feelings of mine come from?

I want to understand how you can look at a child who's 5, 6, or 12,

and then beat them.

Maybe you never will.

I want to understand, because I don't want to do the same!

Good, but you won't even listen to me.

I'm listening.

Our generation never thought badly of our parents!

We told ourselves this is life and we must go on with it!

Other people I know acted the same,

and I'm not seeing their children whining!

You can't know that.

Sure, but I'm telling you.

I remember it clearly.

I barely hit you, every now and then!

Do you have any idea how bad it hurts?

I'm sick of always fighting this.

All my depression, all my issues.

Sometimes I'm sick of myself!

Of myself!

Of course others get sick of me too.

I felt so much shame.

I remember that feeling so well. The shame was overwhelming.

After he would yell at us or beat us, or after a fight with my mum,

I didn't want the others to see me.

If I did go out, I hoped no one would mention the subject.

Let's all pretend nothing has happened.

Now I notice the door is the same.

It's the door from my childhood.

Look at you, Sis, look how beautiful you were!

This is my favourite photo of you.

I always felt that, in a way, you were more mature than me.

Only emotionally. Maybe.

Yes, I felt it as well, but that's because I was more protected.

You have more bad memories with him than I do.

I don't remember it so well, but you always told me what was happening.

I remember it got worse later, when we moved to this apartment.

We cried every night in our room.

Even when the two of us argued,

when something like that happened, we'd still cry on each other's shoulder.

We needed each other, so we had to make up.

- Remember? - Yes.

We went to bed angry with each other,

but when Mum and Dad fought, well, when Dad fought with her,

when Dad hurt Mother,

you and I put aside our argument.

I guess, in a way, it helped us bond better.

Us? 100%.

That was the most...

- We were united against danger. - Yes.

We were the only ones who knew what was happening.

Nobody would have understood it anyway.

My mother always had a sadness on her face that broke my heart.

When I was six,

my father pushed her against the balcony door in the kitchen.

The shards of glass cut into her skin and drenched her dress in blood.

I came out from behind the fridge, grabbed my little sister,

and we hid under the bed in our room.

We prayed, as we did many times, not to lose her altogether.

You dye it in parallel lines.

Yes, I know.

I've dyed your hair before, just not in a long time.

True.

I'm lucky to have three daughters to dye my hair!

I've done it myself too.

- And you've managed? - Yes, looking in the mirror.

I do the back by feel mostly, but...

It works.

When I found out I had cancer,

I thought it was all over.

My sister had died of cancer, so I thought my turn had come.

- You thought it was over? - Yes, I thought I wouldn't survive.

I would walk down the street, looking around, feeling like

I was seeing the trees for the last time.

But...

God is great, I was healed.

The cancer was gone.

After that, you changed.

Yes, I've changed my attitude towards life a bit.

I thought, after going through this illness,

it's not worth being so strict with myself.

I figured I deserve to be a little more free.

To allow myself more things that I didn't allow myself before.

To have my own point of view, not to always do what your father says.

I figured I have a right to that.

To say and think something else.

I used to be like a child, naive, dreaming.

I thought life happens, will happen to me anyway, and it will all be fine.

But it's not quite like that. You have to work for it all to be fine.

You have to think things through.

See, that's it!

Now I have a different face.

Thank you so much, dear!

- Do you like it? - Yes, it turned out nicely.

Now I see myself and think I look nice.

- Thank you very much. - You're welcome.

Thanks for helping.

He's Peter the Rooster!

He used to come out and sing for me.

- He ran off, Mum. - He forgot all about me.

When I bought him, he'd come flap his wings and sing.

But he hasn't seen me much over winter.

Now the camera is filming us both.

Alright?

Let me show you my baby.

Did you miss me?

I missed you so much.

I last saw you in summer, right?

- No, last year. - I missed you so much!

It's been a year, Grandma.

I remember...

My poor mother had to gather dowry for three daughters, I was the fourth!

She didn't really want me, I was Dad's girl.

I was always around him.

My father taught me to eat by myself.

We had no forks.

He'd go "Here, love, hold your hand like this!"

"Grab it and bring it to your mouth!"

I'll never forget.

- Grandma, what about your brother? - Ion!

Tell her how he died.

He was in 4th grade at the Romanian-language school.

We had a lot of sheep.

My other brother, Gheorghe,

went to school in the morning.

Ion had school in the afternoon.

So Ion took the sheep to graze in the morning,

and waited for Gheorghe to come take over.

So he was often late for school.

He was late once, late twice...

I remember the teacher, he wasn't a bad man.

He just...

He got angry, because Ion was otherwise a good pupil.

He dragged him from his desk and broke his leg.

Broke his knee.

He died, in the end.

Then...

People tried to convince my father

to take the teacher to court.

The man's wife was my first-grade teacher.

My father said "No. I just buried a son."

"At least his children should have a father."

So he forgave him.

- Really? - But he lost little Ion.

I still remember.

Look at this!

There was a problem with...

Enough! Stop talking!

You know nothing, you fool!

I'll break this bottle in your face!

Back to work!

I'll kill you!

I'll kill you!

- You didn't do your job! - I did everything, you didn't pay me!

- Don't touch me! - I'll kill you!

Get out of here while I'm working!

You're useless!

You're useless!

You're useless, totally useless!

You can't do a single thing!

What can I say about today?

My employer...

My work giver, as they say here...

He attacked me for no reason.

I'm trying to find someone to take me to the hospital.

I can't drive right now.

My leg won't move.

I can't even drag it along, can't even touch it.

Let's see how this whole mess ends.

[The Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration]

He pushed me onto the forklift.

The skin got, how to say, it got all twisted.

I went to the hospital.

He's hurt me so, so much.

And to top it off...

I have the document. He sent me off, he did.

He said "You're crazy."

"I'll show you how crazy. I'll kick you out."

You understand, he made me do some... mental health tests.

I was tested here.

It makes me want to cry.

Being called crazy just like that...

What happened then?

I'll show you, I have the...

All the papers from the psychiatrist and everything.

I paid it out of my own pocket, he never reimbursed me.

We can ask for reimbursement.

It's unbelievable.

Here's the calendar, this is all overtime off the record!

The same as what's written here, yes?

No!

At the end of the year, he destroys them, but I hid these.

He did all that.

That's why I brought this.

It was only when you came to see me last time

that I saw how much grief you're carrying.

Then I thought a lot about what you told me.

What did I do so wrong?

What was my mistake?

I always thought I was doing everything for you.

Because you sent us money, and you thought that was enough.

But just bringing money home isn't enough.

Back then, I had no idea what poverty was.

For me, it was more important for you to be kind,

to hug me, kiss me, tell me you loved me, create a peaceful home.

I am very sorry

I couldn't show the love I felt for you children.

Or not the right way.

I hope you see that I am not that person anymore.

I understand now that I made mistakes.

If I could turn back time, I'd change things.

But I realise I can't. It's impossible.

- Radu, I'm going to see a priest. - Can I come? To film a few shots?

If the priest is fine with it.

- Hello, Father. - God bless.

I would like a word with you.

I was hoping, since there are fewer people today...

I have these burdens on my soul.

My second-eldest's name is Lina.

She did great in school,

but you know how hard it is to keep children in check.

They can fall into sin so easily.

What should I do now,

when I realise I did things wrong?

I was wrong.

Children need more freedom than I thought.

Through the education you gave them, strict or not,

you've raised them well.

You kept them from debauchery and bad choices.

If that girl finished her studies and achieved her goals,

that means you taught her well.

Why worry about your mistakes in educating your children?

Why doesn't your child think about...

how she abandoned you?

Being considered guilty before your children, that is wrong.

- Now I can go, right? - Yes.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Excuse me?

- You wanted to see me? - Yes.

Here's the first thing I want to ask.

You tell me: Why didn't you show up for work?

- When? - The other day.

- But I'm here! - It's the law.

You were supposed to be at work.

No one tells me anything.

You're supposed to be responsible for your own work!

But...

You didn't show up for work, that's serious.

But I didn't...

Just for that, I can fire you.

- No, wait. - You resign!

I can't do that, I don't want to resign!

I've always wanted to work, get a normal pension.

The law is clear. Sign it.

I won't sign a thing, I'll talk to my attorney!

That does it. See yourself out!

- No, but... - Get out.

You know I have a lawyer and you want to get rid of me!

I'm the one who gives the orders here!

- Yes, I know. - Me!

- But you never said... - You answer to me!

I don't want to resign, I won't!

It's alright, Mr. Pavel, we'll see him again in court.

You go inside, I'll get to work here.

Let me prop it up.

There. I'll film you for a bit!

How are you, Grandma?

- How are you? - Grandma's little girl!

I've grown, haven't I?

- Nice and rounded. - Of course, just look!

When Mum and Diana were pregnant, their belly was narrower.

I'm saying when they were pregnant, their belly was narrower.

Well, of course.

- This one's a girl. - She is.

Girls give you a wide belly.

Boys make it pointy.

This is a girl.

- Need help, Mr. Pavel? - No!

I'll be done before you get up here.

Will these tomatoes grow, Mum?

You'll come this summer and eat them.

Sweet and tasty, not like supermarket ones.

Lina wants to know how many times you've been married.

- Three times. - Three times.

With Dad, you weren't married in church because he was a Communist.

And he didn't believe in God.

Well, he was...

He believed, but there was nothing he could do.

Did any of Granny's husbands beat her?

I don't know. Did any of your husbands beat you?

No, she was an obedient woman.

I knew how to deal with him.

He was surprised I had that power.

You were a good psychologist.

- You saw he was aggressive. - I had a Psychology degree, you know.

You knew how to deal with him.

He told neighbours "When would I beat her?"

"I go to bed, she's working. I wake up, she's working."

When he was drunk and wanted scandal, I'd lay the table for him,

give him a glass of wine, wash his feet...

She treated him with respect.

I'd say "let's talk in the morning".

Are you wrong in the head?

Ever since you came back, you keep criticizing.

I didn't do this, didn't do that.

Because you won't use your head!

I just can't!

Now don't give me that face.

Stop that right now.

You always complained to the children.

You keep playing the victim!

I never said a bad word about you to the girls!

- I didn't... - You badmouthed me in front of them!

All the nights of my childhood looked like this, with endless arguments.

All I wanted back then was to grow up quick

and escape this place.

Now I can be here, where it hurts,

for as long as it takes for all of us to heal.

Move, Liuda, clear that up, then we'll water them.

Pull out the roots too!

- This one's a flower. - Why did you rip it out?

Why did you put them here?

These are flowers.

Not this one, it isn't. This is a weed.

Just put that candle there already!

Here's to their memory.

They were good people, our family exists thanks to them.

Hurry it.

If it wasn't for your grandmother, who knows?

- Just hurry it. - Thanks to her, you were born.

May they rest in peace.

Your grandpa came back from the war with issues.

He had concussions, poor thing, he was left with nervous issues.

He loved to drink the hard stuff.

- It made his stomach numb. - Yes, he didn't drink for pleasure.

- I was talking! - I apologise.

So...

My mum took care of things.

She made the brandy too.

She basically did all the work.

Getting men for the harvest, making the wine...

You need a wagon, ask Mum. You need a tractor, ask Mum.

You need a handyman, Mum knows one.

My dad was a tailor, a good one.

He could make you anything.

But as a person?

He was kind-hearted.

When he drank, he had serious fights with Mum.

If Mum knew when to shut up,

then he would cool down.

But if she let her tongue loose, she was guaranteed a beating.

When she could, she ran. When she couldn't...

If he caught her...

They fought, then he got over it and all was well.

I believe they forgave each other.

I believe their souls are peaceful together in the afterlife.

Neither of them passed away in anger.

My dad passed away with a lot of regret, I'm sure.

He often cried after Mum died.

Anytime she was mentioned, he'd cry.

My mum never held things against him.

She never hated him.

Even if he did something wrong, she found a reason and forgave him.

- Hello? - Why did you pick up?

- It's my cousin. - You shouldn't have picked up!

Isn't it that way?

It's your fault for interrupting the GPS.

Yes, but...

Then shut up already!

- How are you, brother dear? - Who taught you to drive like that?

Wabbits!

Feeding the bunnies?

Listen, how are things between you and Tamara?

How is it with Tamara?

Getting along or still fighting all the time?

Now the children are here, she sleeps in the other house.

This week they're sleeping over.

- But when the grandchildren are away... - Then she sleeps here.

I was worried I'd come at a bad time.

No?

- No, we're good. - You are?

Why wouldn't we be?

I don't know.

What was his problem, Aunt Tamara?

Your aunt Stela called him a drunkard.

Told him to drink less.

He started yelling at me that I should have sided with him,

said he doesn't drink!

How can I say you don't drink when you do?

I've had enough.

I've been alone all my life.

That sounds like someone we know, huh?

You see, Lina,

I always think, if your father was home, she'd have it as bad as me.

- My mum and my father? - Yes.

I'm 100% positive they'd be even worse.

I always wonder how you survived, you and my mum.

Maybe your dad's not so bad, but my man beat me,

kicked me out, threw stones at me.

When he worked in Spain, he brought his mistress home.

The things he did to me!

Why did you forgive him?

Lina, I always thought, when our children come back home

and I have grandchildren,

another man wouldn't love them as his own.

- We're almost ready. - Us too.

Can I get a bowl for the meat?

Will this do?

- Is this one alright? - Yes.

Yes, that one!

If I could get an apartment, even a single-room!

- What for? - I can't live in that house.

Don't you own the apartment, though?

It's not in my name.

I see you're making plans already.

A time comes when you have to put yourself first.

I've already had ulcer and cancer from the stress.

I don't want that again.

Aggression is chillingly commonplace in these parts.

When I was little, I felt powerless against it.

Later, I became a journalist and tried to change something with my writing.

Now I realise that the only place where I can make a profound change

is within my own family.

My beautiful little girl.

You're finally here.

The other party's attorney contacted me

to see if we could find a solution.

We had a talk.

I mean a financial solution, compensatory pay.

For extra time that you have worked,

or for the undignified treatment resulted

from the confirmed behaviour of your employer.

Remember that a lawsuit takes time and requires eye witnesses

who have seen your employer personally,

and can declare under oath to a judge:

"Yes, I've seen this man work from 8 am to 8 pm,"

"and weekends too."

Then there are the moral damages.

We have the evidence, because you filmed it.

But the judge's evaluation of said damages

can differ a lot.

I'm tired.

I'm... exhausted.

Both mentally and physically.

Of course, I want to end this one way or another,

but not just any way, rather in a decent way.

You have to decide, and it's a hard choice to make.

Yours is a very long, very complicated story.

- It's taken years. - Yes, years.

After being through so much,

it's not easy to say "let's strike an agreement".

What I've seen in your footage has been

very traumatising, both physically and mentally.

I'll close the door.

[videoconference]

Judge: Hello.

Judge: Do you agree to the settlement offer?

Pavel: I agree.

Judge: Perfect.

Judge: Do you avail yourself of all that has been said?

Pavel: I agree.

Judge: Perfect.

Thank God the whole thing's over.

The Lord be praised!

Yes, it's all over.

It is!

All good then, we'll come home and celebrate.

Yes, we must celebrate.

Properly.

I'm glad we got justice for Dad.

The money from his former employer means a more peaceful old age for him,

and confidence that evil can be defeated.

Oh, you're filming?

- You couldn't sleep? - No.

I texted Lina, and she replied when I had just fallen asleep.

- I texted back... - Too late!

That woke me up and...

- What the hell is this? - A night light.

So I don't keep the big one on.

The others aren't bright enough and they're too high for me to change.

Don't you talk back to me!

Stop, think, use your head!

It drives me mad that you won't use your head!

- You're just not capable! - Maybe I'm not.

What do you mean, you're not?

Patience, patience...

No matter how hard you try, you're not good enough.

You're always bad, bad, bad!

I've always been afraid that I won't manage on my own,

that I won't endure, that I won't have enough money.

This is how he acts! And he always thinks I'm in the wrong.

"Why did you move that there?"

"Why didn't you do this and that?"

It's always my fault.

When you grow up in an orphanage, you have no experience in life.

You don't see how a family should be, how Dad should treat Mum.

In our house, it was really weird with my stepdad.

I couldn't get close to my mum.

I had lost my father, but I still had my mum.

Then we moved into his house and I lost my mum too.

It was too much.

I know, dear. I know.

I hit my stepfather once.

I didn't want you to have a stepfather. That's why I never left him.

You are leaving soon, you have your own life.

I will make some decisions as well.

There, calm down now.

Since Aster was born I feel, for the first time in my life,

the parts of me that were always at war finally harmonising.

I'm learning to step into this fragile universe

where love doesn't hurt.

Aster!

Look, I see our world!

I work everyday

for my little girl to be more serene than other generations in my family.

I want to come up!

I want to sit next to you!

- Daddy, I love you! - I love you too.

What does it say there?

- What does it say? - Can you read for me?

Here's what it says...

Why are you upset?

Why are you upset?

I'll tell you when you grow up some.

- But why are you upset? - When you're older.

Just tell me!

Tell me!

Love, some days people are just upset.

But why are you upset?

Give me a kiss and I'll be better.

There!

Read for me.

Revised and Synchronized by FAST TITLES MEDIA