{"id":63613,"date":"2019-01-08T19:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T00:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=63613"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:32","slug":"conversation-oscars-roma","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/conversation-oscars-roma\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oscars: what you may have missed in ‘Roma’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n The Oscars: what you may have missed in 'Roma'\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Roma<\/a> \u2014 Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n\u2019s powerful film about daily life in Mexico in the 1970s \u2014 has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including the top prize as best picture of the year. Cuar\u00f3n has been praised for both his technical and storytelling skills and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences<\/a> have rewarded him with nominations for direction, cinematography and original screenplay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its popularity \u2014 Roma had limited theatrical release but is available for streaming on Netflix<\/a> \u2014 the film contains some subtle but important elements that have been largely ignored by critics so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of these elements are Mexico\u2019s political context in the early 1970s and the ongoing conditions that have characterized domestic workers\u2019 lives since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main character of Roma<\/em> is Cleo (played by Yalitza Aparicio, who was nominated for best actress), a domestic worker based on a woman named Liboria Rodr\u00edguez (known as Libo) who worked for Cuar\u00f3n\u2019s family when he was a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n