Ever since the 19th century, the Valea Jiului region of Romania has been a very active coal-mining hub, where many citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been sent to work, and where years later, during the Communist era, many Romanians from all over the country would also be sent to work, as part of a state initiative to further the country’s industrial development through coal combustion. However, due to low efficiency levels in the years that followed the 1989 Revolution, most of the mines were closed down. Alexandra Gulea’s film turns its attention to how, ever since, the cities have been forsaken by the state and emptied by their inhabitants, who were consequently forced to emigrate and to look for means to make a decent living which their country has denied them. They are usually left with no choice but to leave their children behind, who are left alone and parentless: the so called “white orphans”. The money they send home and the few visits a year cannot fill the gap or make up for the children’s loneliness. For too many of them depression becomes a companion, as was the case for the main character of the film, a young boy who could no longer stand his life without his parents and decided to finish it.  (Vanina Vignal)