Roma (2018) was directed and written by Alfonso Cuarón, who was also a producer of the film, as well as the film's cinematographer and co-editor. It stars Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo, Marina de Tavira as Sra. Sofía, Fernando Grediaga as Sr. Antonio, and many more. The film began production in late 2016 by Cuarón's production company, Esperanto Filmoj. Though Netflix acquired distribution rights. The movie takes place and was filmed in Mexico. The film itself is in Spanish, though it does feature subtitles.
According to IMDB, a synopsis for Roma is as follows: "In Mexico City's upscale Colonia Roma district, a quiet but swift change is on its way. Pivoting around Dr Antonio's middle-bourgeoisie family, the lives of two women--the devoted live-in maid and housekeeper of Mixteco heritage, Cleo, and her academic employer, Sofía--become inextricably intertwined, as a seemingly ordinary business trip to Quebec paves the way for a bitter heartbreak. Over a span of one long year--from the quadrennial 1970s World Cup to the blood-drenched Corpus Christi Massacre--the unforeseen and sometimes unbearable complications of love; a new life amid death, and an almost stubborn will to find good in evil, pepper Sofía and Cleo's daily routines. And before irrevocable transformations and startling revelations, life always finds a way."
Roma, very similarly to Marriage Story (2019), and Netflix's other big movies, when it came to distribution. It was released in theaters on November 21st, 2018, so that it may qualify for the Academy Awards before being released on Netflix's streaming service on December 14th of the same year.
The film was marketed by promoting the concept of the story- a simple story set in working-class parts of Mexico with human characters just living their lives. This is reflected with the trailers and posters. Both of the two trailers that were released had no dialogue, instead opting to focus on the visuals and the world that the movie takes place in. Similarly, the posters are very focused on giving consumers an idea of the world in which the movie takes place. The first one features two children looking up to the sky from a rooftop and the other features children all huddling up tightly. These devices are used by the marketing team to give consumers a sense of the world. Also, due to the very realistic and down-to-earth story, there was a very minimal use of CGI.
After the film was announced, it had faced a good amount of controversy, but not because of the content of the film itself, but because of Netflix's involvement in distributing the film. This comes from the dispute that Netflix was having with the Cannes Film Festival over theatrical releases of movies and Netflix boycotting the festival. More controversy happened after Netflix did not allow Roma to air exclusively in theatres for 90 days, the amount of time that is generally expected by both the academy and by the movie theatre chains. This led to both AMC Theaters and Regal Cinemas refusing to air showings of Roma.
In terms of awards, Roma performed very well. In 2019, Roma received a total of ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture of the Year. It ended up winning Best Foreign Language Film of the Year (Mexico), Best Achievement in Directing (Alfonso Cuarón), and Best Achievement in Cinematography (Alfonso Cuarón). This was the first film from Mexico to win Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. While not as successful, Roma still saw some success at the 2019 Golden Globe Awards. It had a total of three nominations, including Best Director - Motion Picture (Alfonso Cuarón), Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language, and Best Screenplay - Motion Picture (Alfonso Cuarón). It won the former of the two awards listed.