Oscar winner Cuaron pays personal tribute in new film ‘Roma’

LONDON (Reuters) – After winning an Oscar for space film “Gravity”, director Alfonso Cuaron chose to tell a touching personal story for his next movie, “Roma”, looking back on his childhood memories growing up in Mexico City.

Set in 1970s Mexico and named after a neighborhood in the capital city, the black-and-white film in Spanish focuses on one household, namely the women who raised Cuaron.

“The film is focusing on the life of Cleo who is a domestic worker in a home,” Cuaron told Reuters while promoting the film in London last month.

“But it’s really the story of one of the human beings that I love the most. One of the women that raised me.”

The Netflix film, which won the Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival and is being tipped as an Oscar contender, is an intimate portrait of strong and resilient women.

“That’s my experience…of the women that raised me. I don’t know if this film was ever attempting to create statements,” Cuaron said. “It’s more an approach to this family and to these people.”

“Roma”, which is being shown in some cinemas before hitting the streaming service next month, is Cuaron’s first directorial project since he won a best director Academy Award for 2013’s “Gravity”, starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.

Asked if he felt pressure in making the film after his Oscar triumph, he said: “I mean you don’t think in terms of pressure you just do whatever you think is the right thing to do.

“If you think of all the pressure you don’t move…you’ll be petrified. It’s like any film, it’s something you…need to do.”

(Reporting by Jayson Mansaray; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Toby Davis)