2015 Brochure | MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

December 2–7, 2015

Romanian Film Initiative

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema is copresented by the Romanian Film Initiative and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, in partnership with the Jacob Burns Film Center.

Initiated in 2006 and chaired by Corina Șuteu, Making Waves has become a fixture in New York City’s cultural scene. Every year the festival offers a selection of the best in contemporary Romanian filmmaking, along with classic and landmark films, panels, and other special programs, and highlights the importance of art in addressing controversial topics and forging a dialogue around challenging issues.

Since 2012 Making Waves has been a fully independent festival of Romanian contemporary cinema and culture, made possible through the support of numerous institutional funders and individual donations, including a large number of Romanian artists who believe that audiences at home and abroad deserve unfettered access to the best of Romanian contemporary culture.

For the third consecutive year, select films will also screen at the Jacob Burns Film Center, from December 3-8.

The 10th edition of Making Waves is made possible with the generous participation of numerous supporters from Romania, the U.S., and around the world, who have joined the Circle of Donors and the Festival Club, including Lucian Pintilie, Adrian Ghenie, Şerban Savu, Dan Perjovschi, Marie-France Ionesco, Corneliu Porumboiu, Marius Bercea, Andrei Șerban, Stere Gulea, Andrei Both, Mona Nicoară, Alexander Nanau, Daniela Codarcea Kamiliotis, Andrew Solomon, and many more.

Leading support has been provided by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Ștefania Magidson & Blue Heron Foundation, HBO Romania, Lark Play Development Center, and the leading professional and public organizations in Romania: The National Center of Cinema and the Filmmakers Union of Romania.

It is both strange and gratifying to see “10th edition” on the poster for this year’s Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Still vivid in my memory are the moments of surprise when Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu was acclaimed by American film critics as we were distributing promotional postcards to passersby, close to the headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York.

Still vivid in my memory is the moment when Cristian Mungiu entered my office in 2006, before he was awarded the Palme d’Or—gentle, shy, and smiling. By the end of that visit, when he came to present Occident at Yale, he told me and playwright Saviana Stănescu, over a drink in Telephone Bar in the East Village, about the subject of his new feature 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, for which he still hadn’t raised all the money needed for its production.

Still vivid in my memory is meeting Ryan Werner and Courtney Ott in 2007, and welcoming them with champagne and strawberries, in order to

discuss the Golden Globe and Oscar promotion for Mungiu’s by-then finished film, a worldwide success after winning the top prize at Cannes.

Still vivid in my memory are Richard Peña and Scott Foundas inviting Making Waves to move to the Film Society of Lincoln Center from Tribeca Cinemas in 2011, and later accepting the Romanian Film Initiative (Mihai Chirilov, Oana Radu, and myself) to continue the festival as an independent endeavor after the political situation in Romania dramatically changed in 2012.

So many other things are still vivid.

They resonate with names like Porumboiu, Giurgiu, Muntean, Jude, Mitulescu, Sitaru, Pintilie, Tatos, and Daneliuc.

They match all the energy, creativity, and craziness of our small and dedicated team of Romanians, which encountered the same dedication and passion for film in so many others. Ten years have passed in a blink, and Romanian cinema has continued a glorious and unexpectedly successful path.

If Making Waves seems exhausting day after day, while governments fall, artists forget about giving back, glories are built and fade away, the only thing

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

Making Waves day after day is exhausting

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MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

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that really matters is to continue believing that the effort and passion invested had a meaning. “The meaning” never exhausts itself.

A cycle is closed. A cycle opens.

Corina Șuteu Festival President Romanian Film Initiative

Romanian Film Initiative

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is proud to co-present another edition of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema, our annual survey of new films and rediscovered classics from what remains one of the world’s most vibrant national cinemas.

It is a real pleasure to have in this 10th anniversary edition the latest works from a few familiar voices who have been at the forefront of the Romanian New Wave, including Corneliu Porumboiu, with his droll modern fable The Treasure, a Main Slate selection from the recent New York Film Festival, and Radu Muntean, with One Floor Below,

his highly anticipated follow-up to the widely acclaimed Tuesday, After Christmas. ​ We are taking this opportunity as well to revisit​ landmark works of the New Wave with Cristian Nemescu’s posthumous debut California Dreamin’ (Endless) and Cristi Puiu’s now-classic The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu. This edition also honors Mircea Daneliuc, an influential figure for the current generation, with a three-film spotlight.

All in all, this is as robust a lineup as the Making Waves festival has ever presented—a celebration of the past 10 years and a confirmation that while the Romanian New Wave may no longer be exactly new, it endures nonetheless.

Dennis Lim Director of Programming Film Society of Lincoln Center

FILM LIVES HERE

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Patul conjugal

Opening Night

Directed by Mircea Daneliuc Romania, 1993, 101m Screenplay: Mircea Daneliuc Cinematography: Vivi Drăgan Vasile Cast: Gheorghe Dinică, Coca Bloos, Lia Bugnar Producer: Oltea Munteanu Production: Alpha Films International Festivals: Berlin 1993 (official competition)

| WED, Dec 2, 7:00 pm, WRT In person: director Mircea Daneliuc

Vasile Potop is a movie theater manager in post-1989 Romania.

The economy is down, audiences have abandoned moviegoing for television news, and Vasile’s home life is brimming with tedium and disgust. He feels happy only when locked in his office with Stela, the cinema cashier—but even that doesn’t last long. All around him, people are trying to make a quick buck by devising grotesque business schemes—including his wife, who plans to sell their soon-to-be-born baby. And we’re not even halfway through this anarchic gig. Intimate Bed is artistic indignation at its best, satire that cuts to the bone and beyond. Daneliuc’s delirious, cynical film is the most accurate portrayal of the messy transitions in Romanian society of the 1990s.

Director in Focus: Mircea Daneliuc / OPENING NIGHT

Intimate Bed

Romanian with English subtitles.

Followed by a reception open to all ticket holders.

This selection is screening as part of the “Director in Focus: Mircea Daneliuc” program.

See pages 18-20 to learn more.

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For Your Consideration Official Entry – Romania

Best Foreign Language Film AFI FEST

Mill Valley Film Festival

AFERIM!

A film by Radu Jude

Opens in US on January 22nd, 2016

Closing Night

Directed by Radu Jude Romania/Bulgaria/Czech Republic, 2015, 105m Screenplay: Radu Jude, Florin Lăzărescu Cinematography: Marius Panduru Cast: Teodor Corban, Mihai Comănoiu, Toma Cuzin Producer: Ada Solomon Production: Hi Film Productions, Klas Film, Endorfilm, EZ Films Festivals: Berlin 2015 (Best Director), Hong Kong, Tribeca, Toronto

| MON, Dec 7, 8:30 pm, WRT In person: producer Ada Solomon

The third and most ambitious feature to date by Radu Jude (Everybody in Our Family) is a captivating road movie that employs the conventions of the Western to tell an Eastern tale of gypsy slavery. Based on a little-talked-about moment in Romania’s past, this story of a policeman and his son searching for a fugitive in 19th-century southern Romania unfolds with remarkable fluidity, employing gorgeous and crisp black-and-white photography, uniquely archaic-sounding language, a perfect sense of location, and great attention to historical detail. Variety called this period film, which represents Romania in this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race, “an exceptional, deeply intelligent gaze into a key historical period, done with wit as well as anger.” A Big World Pictures Release.

New Releases / CLOSING NIGHT

AFERIM!

Romanian with English subtitles.

Followed by a reception open to all ticket holders.

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New Releases

ALIYAH DADA

| THU, Dec 3, 6:00 pm, WRT In person: director Oana Giurgiu New York Premiere

Directed by Oana Giurgiu Romania, 2014, 116m

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Screenplay: Oana Giurgiu Cinematography: Mihai Tănase Editor: Letiţia Ştefănescu Producer: Tudor Giurgiu Production: Libra Film, Hai-Hui Entertainment Festivals: Astra 2014

In her debut documentary, Oana Giurgiu, a non-Jewish Romanian raised under the supreme Communist truth, sets out on a journey to uncover the reality behind the Romanian Jews aliyah (the return to the Holy Land). This incredibly rich story also touches on the adventure of the first settlers who abandoned their modern lives in Eastern Europe at end of the 19th century for a stark existence in a hostile Palestine. Unfolding something like a fairy tale, Aliyah DaDa is not without its dark revelations, including the infamous trade of Romanian Jews to Israel during Ceaușescu’s regime, and its captivating visual style—interviews and archival footage interlinked with Dadaist installations and brisk photo collages—pays tribute to two pioneers of that movement, the Romanian Jews Tristan Tzara and Marcel Janco.

Romanian, English, and Hebrew with English subtitles.

București Nonstop

| FRI, Dec 4, 6:45 pm, WRT In person: director Dan Chişu North American Premiere

Directed by Dan Chişu Romania, 2015, 86m Screenplay: Dan Chişu Cinematography: Liviu Pojoni Jr. Cast: Gheorghe Ifrim, Ion Besoiu, Dorina Lazăr, Toma Cuzin, Olimpia Melinte, Dorian Boguţă Producer: Dan Chişu Production: DaKINO Productions, Watch Me Productions Festivals: Transilvania 2015

Four stories of ordinary yet colorful people caught in extraordinary situations are cleverly interwoven in this funny, bittersweet portrayal of urban life set during a single night in Romania’s chaotic capital city.

No matter how different they seem, the taxi driver and the hooker, the grumpy elderly couple, the quarreling young lovers, and the loquacious pair of petty criminals all have one thing in common: the eponymous 24-hour store and its sarcastic yet good-hearted owner who connects the dots by being the sole witness of their trials and tribulations. This is the fifth and most accomplished feature film to date by maverick Dan Chişu, who gets the best from his eclectic ensemble cast. This year’s Making Waves lineup also includes Chişu’s own acting debut, in Mircea Daneliuc’s The Snails’ Senator.

New Releases: Documentaries NEW RELEASES

BUCHAREST NONSTOP

Romanian with English subtitles.

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New Releases

ONE FLOOR BELOW Un etaj mai jos

| THU, Dec 3, 9:00 pm, WRT | FRI, Dec 4, 4:30 pm, WRT

New York Premiere

Directed by Radu Muntean

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Romania/France/Germany/Sweden, 2015, 93m Screenplay: Alexandru Baciu, Radu Muntean, Răzvan Rădulescu Cinematography: Tudor Lucaciu Cast: Teodor Corban, Iulian Postelnicu, Oxana Moravec Producer: Dragoş Vîlcu Production: Multi Media Est Festivals: Cannes 2015 (Un Certain Regard), Toronto

Radu Muntean’s long-awaited follow-up to his 2010 critical hit Tuesday, After Christmas, is a simmering anti-thriller about a family man, Sandu (Teodor Corban), who overhears the conclusion of a heated argument between his downstairs neighbor Laura (Maria Popistașu) and her boyfriend Vali (Iulian Postelnicu). When Laura is found dead in her apartment the next day, it appears that Sandu may have witnessed the prelude to a too-close-to-home murder. He soon finds his ability to keep his head down tested by the need to protect his family as the menacing Vali begins inserting himself in their lives. Muntean gracefully and economically weds 19th-century Russian literature’s preoccupation with hard questions of morality and the Romanian New Wave’s exceptional attentiveness to the rhythms and political resonances of daily life.

Romanian with English subtitles.

| SUN, Dec 6, 5:30 pm, WRT

Toto ﾈ冓 surorile lui

Directed by Alexander Nanau Romania, 2014, 94m Screenplay & Cinematography: Alexander Nanau Editors: Alexander Nanau, George Cragg, Mircea Olteanu Producers: Cﾄフﾄネin Mitulescu, Alexander Nanau, Valeriu Nicolae, Marcian Lazﾄビ Production: Strada Film, Alexander Nanau Production, HBO Europe Festivals: San Sebastian 2014, Jihlava (Silver Eye Award), Zurich (Best Doc), Tribeca 2015

NEW RELEASES

TOTO AND HIS SISTERS

Ten-year-old Totonel (or Toto) and his two teenage sisters struggle to live on their own and hope that the family will be reunited when their mother is released from prison. Shot over several years, with astonishing access to its subjects, this impressive HBO-produced documentary is reminiscent of early Ken Loach. Though disturbing, with brutal scenes involving drug addicts and a quietly shocking ending, this tough social commentary from International Emmy Award winner Alexander Nanau (The World According to Ion B.) is a refreshingly optimistic film, with Toto managing to find his way and stay pure amid a cruel environment.

Romanian with English subtitles.

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New Releases

TRADING GERMANS Pașaport de Germania

| MON, Dec 7, 6:30 PM, WRT In person: producer Ada Solomon North American Premiere

Directed by Răzvan Georgescu

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Romania/Germany, 2014, 92m Screenplay: Răzvan Georgescu Cinematography: Alexandru Solomon Editors: Cătălin Cristuţiu, Wolfgang Lehmann Producer: Răzvan Georgescu, Florian Hartung, Aurelian Nica, Ada Solomon Production: Februar Film, HBO Europe Original Programming, HI Film Productions Festivals: Astra 2014

This HBO-produced documentary is a perfect companion piece to Oana Giurgiu’s Aliyah DaDa in that it similarly unearths, though in more traditional fashion, another of Ceaușescu’s schemes to shamelessly profit from the plight of his own people. Răzvan Georgescu’s film is the untold account of one of the largest and most scandalous human-trade mysteries in postwar Europe: how could 246,000 ethnic Germans from Romania have been secretly sold to Germany during the Cold War without anyone else noticing? It’s a mind-blowing story that chronicles the evolution of the deal as well as its complex consequences. Meticulously researched and crafted, Trading Germans is a highly emotional experience, especially when its uprooted heroes discuss identity and what “homeland” means to them.

Romanian and German with English subtitles.

| SAT, Dec 5, 9:30 pm, WRT

Comoara

Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu Romania/France, 2015, 89m Screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu Cinematography: Tudor Mircea Cast: Toma Cuzin, Adrian Purcărescu, Corneliu Cozmei Producers: Marcela Ursu, Sylvie Pialat, Nadia Turincev, Julie Gayet Production: 42 Km Film, Les Films du Worso, Rouge International Festivals: Cannes 2015 (Un Certain Talent Award), New York Film Festival, Toronto

An average family man who likes to read adventure stories to his son at bedtime seizes the opportunity to overcome his gray existence when a neighbor approaches him with a surreal offer: if he can provide a metal detector to help find the treasure buried in his grandparents’ garden, he’ll get half of whatever they uncover. In this stylized, uplifting, and deadpan fairy tale, the action gets crazier as the digging progresses. Audiences will be surprised by the emotional climax of this Cannes prizewinner, which cements Corneliu Porumboiu’s reputation as one of the most original directors working in Romania today.

A Sundance Selects Release.

New Releases: Documentaries NEW RELEASES

THE TREASURE

Romanian with English subtitles.

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New Releases

WHY ME? De ce eu?

In person: director Tudor Giurgiu, producer Oana Giurgiu, and actors Emilian Oprea & Mihai Constantin

| SAT, Dec 5, 6:30 pm, WRT | MON, Dec 7, 4:00 pm, WRT

New York Premiere

Directed by Tudor Giurgiu

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Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary, 2015, 130m Screenplay: Loredana Novak, Tudor Giurgiu Cinematography: Marius Panduru Cast: Emilian Oprea, Mihai Constantin, Andreea Vasile, Dan Condurache Producer: Oana Giurgiu Production: Libra Film, Chouchkov Brothers, Cor Leonis Films Festivals: Berlin 2015 (Panorama Special), Chicago

An ambitious young prosecutor (played with dark intensity by newcomer Emilian Oprea) is surprised to be assigned a sensitive case involving an older colleague accused of corruption. But what could have been a springboard for his career turns out to be quite the opposite, as it’s revealed that he may be a mere pawn on a cynical chessboard.

Based on tragic true events, this Sidney Lumet–esque political thriller about one man’s fight against the system finds director Tudor Giurgiu in a more serious mode after his crowd-pleasing Of Snails and Men (the opening-night film of Making Waves 2012), taking risks in exposing the dirty and sometimes tragic games of Romanian politics.

Romanian with English subtitles.

| THU, Dec 3, 3:45 pm, WRT

Lumea e a mea

North American Premiere

Directed by Nicolae Constantin Tănase Romania, 2015, 103m Screenplay: Raluca Mănescu Cinematography: Daniel Kosuth Cast: Ana-Maria Guran, Iulia Ciochină, Oana Rusu, Ana Vătămanu Producers: Radu Stancu, Tudor Giurgiu Production: Libra Film, deFilm Festivals: Transilvania 2015 (Best Debut), Karlovy Vary (Special Mention)

In this Romanian version of Mean Girls—only meaner, and probably made with just the catering budget of the 2004 American film—16year-old Larisa struggles to stay afloat after falling for the wrong guy.

The small-town world in which good looks and money give power over the less fortunate doesn’t favor the rebellious and stubborn teenager.

Increasingly at odds with her school, her friends, and her parents, Larisa lashes out with devastating consequences. With assured skill and disarming authenticity, first-time feature director Nicolae Constantin Tănase offers a powerful look into the inner lives of teen girls, with a tornado-like Ana-Maria Guran leading a cast made up of mostly nonprofessional actors discovered primarily via Facebook.

New Releases: Documentaries NEW RELEASES

THE WORLD IS MINE

Romanian with English subtitles.

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10 Years of Making Waves

California Dreamin’ (Endless) California Dreamin’ (nesfîrșit)

Directed by Cristian Nemescu

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Romania, 2007, 155m Screenplay: Tudor Voican, Cristian Nemescu, Catherine Linstrum Cinematography: Liviu Marghidan Cast: Armand Assante, Răzvan Vasilescu, Jamie Elman, Maria Dinulescu, Ioan Săpdaru, Andi Vasluianu Producer: Andrei Boncea Production: Media Pro Pictures Awards: Cannes 2007 (Un Certain Regard Award)

| SAT, Dec 5, 1:00 pm, WRT In person: actor Andi Vasluianu

A NATO gun shipment supervised by an American officer that’s scheduled to cross Romania via train during the Kosovo war of the late 1990s is blocked by a stubborn rural station official who objects to the lack of accompanying documents. What follows is an epic farce of carnivalesque proportions, touching on cultural misunderstanding, corruption, vengeance, and the American dream. “Its themes are serious, but they are addressed with a playful exuberance,” wrote A.O. Scott in The New York Times back in 2007. Today, revisiting Nemescu’s posthumous debut feature (now on digitally remastered DCP) one thing’s for sure: the film’s seduction and electrifying rock ’n’ roll vitality—far removed from the stripped-down realism of most of New Romanian Cinema’s big hits—remain unaltered.

Romanian and English with English subtitles.

| SUN, Dec 6, 8:00 pm, WRT

Moartea domnului Lăzărescu

Directed by Cristi Puiu Romania, 2005, 154 min SCREENPLAY: Cristi Puiu, Răzvan Rădulescu CINEMATOGRAPHY: Oleg Mutu Cast: Ion Fiscuteanu, Luminiţa Gheorghiu, Gabriel Spahiu, Doru Ana, Dana Dogaru, Florin Zamfirescu, Clara Vodă, Adrian Titieni Producers: Alexandru Munteanu, Bobby Păunescu, Anca Puiu Production: Mandragora Festivals: Cannes 2005 (Un Certain Regard Award), New York Film Festival

The lonely 63-year-old Mr. Lăzărescu (the late Ion Fiscuteanu, in his final and most memorable performance) feels sick and calls an ambulance. The paramedics take him to the hospital, but once there they decide to move him to another hospital, and then yet another... while his health continues to deteriorate. Ten years ago, this dark comedy about the human condition took American critics by storm, ending up on numerous top 10 lists. And the talented and gorgeous Luminița Gheorghiu, who plays the Good Samaritan nurse was named Best Supporting Actress by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association: just a few reasons to revisit Cristi Puiu’s seminal—and arguably the greatest—title of the Romanian New Wave, which has recently been digitally remastered.

10 Years of Making Waves

The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu

Romanian with English subtitles.

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Director in Focus: Mircea Daneliuc

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DIRECTOR IN FOCUS: Mircea Daneliuc

Mircea Daneliuc is no stranger to New York audiences. Back in 1998, Richard Peña selected his masterful Jacob for the New York Film Festival. And in 2008, Peña curated the most expansive Romanian season ever presented at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, featuring yet another Daneliuc masterpiece, Microphone Test. This year’s opening film Intimate Bed was released in the U.S. in 1995, with Stephen Holden of The New York Times calling it “a harshly surreal comedy of life in post-Communist Romania that has a furious, flailing conviction.” Daneliuc’s impressive career encompasses 17 features (16 of which he wrote) and 11 acting roles, plus several plays, novels, and short stories. He is considered one of the most important Romanian artists—the creator of subversive films anchored in reality but showcasing mordant dark humor and unrelenting satire. All films presented on digitally remastered DCPs. See also the Opening Night film: Intimate Bed (Patul conjugal) followed by Q&A with Mircea Daneliuc and reception | WED, Dec 2, 7:00 pm, WRT

| FRI, Dec 4, 9:15pm, WRT

Croaziera

Directed by Mircea Daneliuc Romania, 1981, 118m Screenplay: Mircea Daneliuc Cinematography: Gabor Tarko Cast: Nicolae Albani, Tora Vasilescu, Mircea Daneliuc Producer: Eugen Mandric Production: Casa de filme 3 Festivals: Roma 1981

In person: director Mircea Daneliuc

Young winners of various contests from across the country are awarded with a cruise on the Danube. This becomes an opportunity to expose the dynamics of ideology, as the youngsters are constantly subjected to educational pressures, which they in turn eschew through irony and cunning. Originally meant as a reward, the cruise ends up being a punishment, a sadly unacknowledged act of coercion. Surprisingly, given the harsh censorship at the time, The Cruise has the strongest and clearest anti-totalitarian message of all the Romanian productions made under Communism, featuring a Party activist who is an aggressive impostor, presented unmistakably as a villain. Subversive, hilarious, and a highly incisive X-ray of an entire generation, Cristi Puiu’s favorite film of Daneliuc’s is the most Altmanesque film ever made in Romania.

Director in Focus: Mircea Daneliuc

The Cruise

Romanian with English subtitles.

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Director in Focus: Mircea Daneliuc

The Snails’ Senator Senatorul melcilor

Directed by Mircea Daneliuc Romania, 1995, 112m Screenplay: Mircea Daneliuc Cinematography: Petre Petrescu, Doru Mitran Cast: Dorel Vişan, Cecilia Bârbora Producer: Gabriela Moruzi Production: Alpha Films International Festivals: Cannes 1995

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| SAT, Dec 5, 4:00 pm, WRT In person: director Mircea Daneliuc & actress Cecilia Bârbora

Senator Vîrtosu (Dorel Vișan) spends the weekend at a guesthouse formerly owned by the Communist Party, where in true Communist tradition, he’s presented with gifts from its employees and petitions from the local villagers. But his relaxing weekend is disrupted by a crew of Swiss journalists filming in the area. Vîrtosu cooperates with them, trying to make sure the reporters present his country favorably, while of course hiding certain details from them. This Cannes competition entry reframes The Cruise against the backdrop of a society in transition and adds apocalyptic and Dostoevskian accents to the depravity and penance of the main villain—the Communist Party activist turned member of a democratic parliament. Daneliuc’s film is a fierce political satire that thankfully doesn’t concern itself with delivering a positive image of Romania.

Romanian and French with English subtitles.

Creative Freedom Through Cinema

Guest Countries: Georgia and the Republic of Moldova

Making Waves’s Creative Freedom Through Cinema program continues to examine the relationship between arts and politics in Eastern Europe, with a spotlight this year on films from Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. Georgia is experiencing something of a cinematic renaissance thanks to recent festival hits Blind Dates and In Bloom, whereas Moldova is a place rarely seen on screen—although it has given us Oleg Mutu, one of the most acclaimed cinematographers in the world. Both countries are represented in this year’s program with films about survival in the harshest conditions: George Ovashvili’s Corn Island, winner of the top prize in Karlovy Vary, and Igor Cobileanski’s The Unsaved, which benefits from Mutu’s impressive camerawork. Moldovan director Pavel Cuzuioc (whose documentary Digging for Life screened here in 2011) will present his brand new short Raisa featuring Cristina Flutur (Beyond the Hills).

The screenings will be followed by a panel conversation (participants TBA).

Special thanks to the Trust for Mutual Understanding.

| Sun, Dec 6, 3:30 pm, WRT In person: director Pavel Cuzuioc

RAISA

Creative Freedom Through Cinema

| SUN, Dec 6, 5:30 pm, AMP | PANEL | Free Admission!

Directed by Pavel Cuzuioc Republic of Moldova/Austria/ Romania, 2015, 15m Production: Pavel Cuzuioc filmproduktion

Moldova. One winter day, Raisa travels into the city hoping to get something that could change her life.

Followed by The Unsaved (see page 23)

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Creative Freedom Through Cinema

CORN ISLAND Simindis Kundzuli

New York Premiere

Directed by George Ovashvili

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| SUN, Dec 6, 1:30 pm, WRT

Georgia/Germany/France, 2014, 101m Screenplay: Roelof Jan Minneboo, George Ovashvili, Nugzar Shataidze Cinematography: Elemér Ragályi Producers: Guillaume De Seille, Nino Devdariani, Eike Goreczka, George Ovashvili Production: 42film GmbH, Arizona Productions, George Ovashvili Production, Alamdary Film Festivals: Karlovy Vary 2014 (Crystal Globe for Best Film), Chicago, Palm Springs 2015

An old peasant and his innocent granddaughter sow corn on an island in the middle of the Inguri River dividing Georgia from Abkhazia. Made out of washed-up dirt, rocks, and debris, the island might exist for years—or it might soon be swept away. The farmers can’t help but take the risk to escape poverty. But then there’s the other risk, of being caught in the ongoing border conflict between the two territories.

Told through captivating imagery and almost devoid of dialogue, the second feature from renowned Georgian filmmaker George Ovashvili is a majestic drama about the fragile bond between man and nature.

It won the top prize in Karlovy Vary last year and was the Georgian Oscar entry for the Best Foreign Language Film, remarkably making the January shortlist.

Abkhaz, Georgian, and Russian with English subtitles.

| SUN, Dec 6, 3:30 pm, WRT

La limita de jos a cerului

New York Premiere

Directed by Igor Cobileanski Romania/Republic of Moldova, 2013, 80m Screenplay: Igor Cobileanski, Corneliu Porumboiu Cinematography: Oleg Mutu Cast: Igor Babiac, Sergiu Voloc, Ela Ionescu Producer: Alexandru Teodorescu Production: Saga Film Festivals: Karlovy Vary 2013, Cottbus (FIPRESCI Award)

Nineteen-year-old Viorel lives with his mother in a remote Moldovan town. Aside from earning a little cash through illegal activities and building a hang glider with his pal Goos, he has no great ambitions.

But, eventually, Viorel begins taking control of his life in Igor Cobileanski’s authentic, socially conscious feature debut, which captures the dead ends of a youth generation growing up in a place lacking prospects for a better existence. Working from a script first drafted by Corneliu Porumboiu (hence the film’s recognizable mood and humor), Cobileanski joined forces with a more famous Moldovan to shape the look of his bleak story: the brilliant director of photography Oleg Mutu, who has worked with Cristian Mungiu and Sergei Loznitsa.

Creative Freedom Through Cinema

The Unsaved

Romanian with English subtitles.

Preceded by Raisa (see page 21)

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New Romanian Shorts

New Romanian Shorts

| SAT, Dec 5, 1:30 pm - 6:30 pm (on loop), AMP | SUN, Dec 6, 7:00 pm, AMP Free Admission!

A selection of the New York, Telluride, and Chicago film festivals, Andrei Crețulescu’s Cannes prizewinner Ramona—a perfectly crafted act of poetic justice at its darkest—is a highlight of this collection of eight internationally recognized short films. Additional dark works include Luiza Pârvu’s Start Anew World, a quiet story of sacrifice from a forgotten generation of Romanian immigrants in the U.S.; Roxana Stroe’s Black Friday, a deadpan tale of an occasional sniper in communist Romania; Marius Olteanu’s Tie, about a strange nighttime encounter between a cab driver and his female client; and Radu Potcoavă’s The Message, an absurd face-off between a gangster and a teen. On the lighter side, there’s Andreea Vălean’s hilarious Balkan music-infused There’s Nothing in this World and Matei Branea’s kinky sci-fi animation Omulan!. And, last but certainly not least, Cristi Puiu’s Christmas tale Das Spektrum Europas, a subversive history lesson taught by an old couple in bed.

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In person: directors Andrei Crețulescu, Luiza Pârvu & Andreea Vălean and producers Codruța Crețulescu & Toma Peiu 144m / All shorts in Romanian with English subtitles.

BLACK FRIDAY

Directed by Roxana Stroe Romania, 2015, 21m Production: UNATC

In the Communist era, standing in line for food is a normal occurrence. After a long wait on an empty stomach, Mihail doesn’t receive his food ration.

The next day he attempts to be the first in line...

START ANEW WORLD

DAS SPEKTRUM EUROPAS

Directed by Matei Branea

Directed by Luiza Pârvu

Directed by Cristi Puiu

Romania, 2015, 15m Production: N-Graphix

Romania/Hungary/USA, 2014, 23 min Production: Root Films, Focus Fox, Penproduction.ro, DaKino Productions, NYU Tisch

Romania, 2014, 13m Production: Obala Art Centar, deFilm, Digital Cube

Omulan travels through space in search of God and lands on a mysterious planet marked by the divine triangle. He explores it, discovering triangle-shaped critters everywhere but not THE ONE he’s looking for. Until he does…

Pennsylvania, 1908. Romanian immigrant cobbler Petru greets his cousin’s wife Ana in their New World home with silent affection. Before he wins her heart, however, he must relate a piece of news that will change her forever.

A Christmastime conversation in bed between a husband and wife as she reads aloud from Hermann Keyserling’s 1928 book Das Spektrum Europas, in which the German philosopher reduced most of southeastern Europe to unflattering national stereotypes.

O lume nouă

New Romanian Shorts / continued

OMULAN!

25

New Romanian Shorts / continued

26

THE MESSAGE

THERE’S NOTHING IN THIS WORLD

TIE

Directed by Andreea Vălean

Directed by Marius Olteanu

Directed by Radu Potcoavă

Romania, 2015, 10m Production: Am o idee

Romania, 2015, 28m Production: We Are Basca

Romania, 2015, 13m Production: Movie Production Entertainment

Two old friends reconnect after a long time. One is a sketchy bar manager, the other an art designer with a huge poker debt. Is their childhood bond strong enough for carrying out a promise made to a dead father?

As a soccer match paralyzes Bucharest, an anxious businesswoman takes a cab, but once in front of her building, she asks the driver to keep her company until the next morning. At any price.

On his way home, a teenager witnesses a triple murder in broad daylight. Scared to death, he tries to run away, but is caught by the killer. He has only one chance to make it out alive…

SCOR ALB

MESAGERUL

NU EXISTă-N LUMEA ASTA

RAMONA

Directed by Andrei Crețulescu Romania, 2015, 21m Production: Kinosseur, deFilm, We Are Basca

One night. One girl. One car. No coincidence.

For your consideration

Oscar-qualified Live Action short

Ramona

A film by Andrei Crețulescu Telluride Film Festival

Chicago International Film Festival

New York Film Festival

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) works to recognize established and emerging filmmakers, support important new work, and enhance the awareness, accessibility, and understanding of the moving image. FSLC produces the New York Film Festival, and presents or collaborates on Art of the Real, Dance on Camera, Film Comment Selects, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema and Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

In addition to publishing Film Comment magazine, FSLC presents the prestigious Chaplin Award. The Film Society’s state-of-the-art Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, located at Lincoln Center, provide a year-round home for the New York City film community. www.filmlinc.org The Film Society of Lincoln Center receives year-round support from

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The Romanian Film Initiative (RFI) came together in 2012 to safeguard the existence and the spirit of the Romanian film festival in New York, redesigned as Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema, and copresented with the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Created by Corina Č˜uteu, Mihai Chirilov, and Oana Radu, the core team that initiated the festival in 2006 and has organized it ever since, RFI is a flagship of Film ETC. Association in Bucharest. Along with the continuation and expansion of Making Waves, RFI aims to develop and contribute to other projects interested in promoting Romanian cinema in the U.S., and the professionalization of the cultural sector in Romania and internationally. www.filmetc.org Festival partner

Festival Board Corina Șuteu, Festival President; Mihai Chirilov, Artistic Director; Oana Radu, Festival Manager, Romanian Film Initiative; Dennis Lim, Director of Programming, Film Society of Lincoln Center; Brian Ackerman, Programming Director, Jacob Burns Film Center

Nicholas Kemp, Alexander Hunter, Elizabeth Gilcreast, Benjamin Orona, Alison Goldberg, Armelle Kessler, Amanda Marino, Katie Hay, John Oursler, Ryan Sullenberger, Matthew D’Silva, Benno Hotz, Sarah Mankoff, Kenneth Lau, Bryce Richardson, Latrice Joefield, Rebecca Williamson, Jamie Kaufman, Farah Jindani, Jeff Delauter, Fernando Martinez, Laura Kern, Greg Sherman

Honorary Board The continuation and expansion of Making Waves has also been supported by an Honorary Board, which is made up of Scott Foundas of Amazon Studios; actor Andi Vasluianu, our Festival Ambassador; visual artist Adrian Ghenie; documentary filmmaker and human rights activist Mona Nicoară; visual artist Dan Perjovschi; and festival friend Dr. Daiana Voiculescu.

Romanian Film Initiative /Film ETC. Elvira Lupșa, Website development; Radu Grigore, Project Officer; Mirona Radu, Donor Relations Coordinator; Cristian Neagoe, Publicist – Romania; Elena Iacob, Amanda Feldman

FSLC Staff Lesli Klainberg, Dennis Lim, Eugene Hernandez, Kent Jones, Courtney Ott, Gary Jaworski, Maria A. Ruiz Botsacos, Glenn Raucher, Michael Gibbons, Florence Almozini, Dan Sullivan, Rufus de Rham, Tony Trius, Tyler Wilson, Karen Weeks, David Goldberg, Lisa Thomas, Austin Kennedy, Alisha Neumaier, Haley Mednick,

Program Editors Mihai Chirilov, Oana Radu, Dennis Lim English editing Laura Kern Graphic Designer Carmen Gociu Festival logo courtesy of Dan Perjovschi

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

FESTIVAL TEAM

Festival brochure printed by Kdo.ro

Festival Publicist Julia Pacetti, JMP Verdant Communications Fiscal Sponsor The Jacob Burns Film Center Volunteers Rareș Beraru, Alina Crețu Condrea, Rudolf Costin, Cătălina Stan Festival trailer Jump Cut

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MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

Circle of Donors

FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS The 10th edition of Making Waves—and its fourth as an independent festival—has been made possible with the generous participation of numerous institutional and individual supporters from Romania, the U.S., and around the world. The Romanian Film Initiative would like to give a warm thank you to all our contributors, and in particular our enthusiastic, generous, and dedicated community of grassroot supporters!

Leading support

Festival Angels: $10,000–$20,000 Șerban Savu, Adrian Ghenie, Dan Perjovschi Festival Champions: $5,000–$10,000 Marius Bercea, Ștefania Magidson & Blue Heron Foundation, Dr. Daiana Voiculescu & Renzo Cianfanelli Festival Friends: $1,000–$3,000 Edward C. Blau, Dana Buricea & Bill Sanford, Dana Dima & Andrei Șerban, Marie-France Ionesco & Lucian Pintilie, Ciprian Morar, Eva-Maria Preiswerk & Freundschaftsverein Schweiz-Rumänien, Mihai Pop, Dr. Andrew Solomon

Festival Club

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$200 – $500 Stephan Benedict, Andrei Both, Ioana Carcea & Bogdan Apetri, Daniela Codarcea Kamiliotis, Andrei Crețulescu & Codruța Crețulescu, Mihai Cucui, Anca Fronescu, Anton

Making Waves would like to thank Am o idee, Arizona Distribution, Autlook Filmsales, Big World Pictures, DaKINO Production, deFilm, Films Boutique, Herretic Outreach, IFC Films, Indie Sales, Kino Lorber, Kinosseur, Libra Film, Mandragora, Movie Production Entertainment, Multi Media Est, N-Graphix, Obala Art Centar, Pascale Ramonda/Festival Strategies, Pavel Cuzuioc filmproduktion, Romanian National Center of Cinema, Root Films, Saga Film, UNATC, We Are Basca, as well as Club Control.

Special thanks to Tudor Giurgiu, Ada Solomon, Dan Chișu, Anca Mitran, Alina Sălcudeanu, Ștefan Alexa, Cosmina Bernicu, Alexandra Boghiu, and Bogdan Crăciun.

Special thanks go also to Laurențiu Damian, Lucian Pricop, and Associate Professor Diana Nicolae & Radio/Television/Film Department in the College of Communication and Creative Arts at Rowan University, NJ. We would like to thank Richard Peña for his unconditional support of both Romanian cinema and the Romanian Film Initiative.

We want to express our gratitude to outstanding actor of the Romanian New Wave, Andi Vasluianu, the Festival Ambassador, who stepped generously on board even before the Romanian Film Initiative had a name, and continued to champion it ever since, and to brilliant visual artist and friend Lucien Samaha who has photographically documented the festival celebrations since its first editions.

A big thank you from RFI also goes to John Eisner, Michael Robertson, Mona Nicoară, Velvet Moraru, Marta Marinescu, Sorin Ana, Raluca Gold, Cătălin Zidaru, Mihaela Nenciu, Alina Iordache Mohr, Claudia Silaghi, Svetlana Mihăilescu, and Florin Mihăilescu, who have consistently provided an enthusiastic support to the independent Making Waves.

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

Ghiugan, Stere Gulea, Daniel Hubert, Michael Jackson, Veronica Lupu, Stephen McCorkle, Mona Nicoară, Anda Onesa Lieberman, Carmen Paraschiv, Uberto Pasolini, Corneliu Porumboiu, Ileana & Ioan Radu, Tania Radu & Dan C. Mihăilescu, Alex Sălcianu, Vladimir Tismăneanu $75 – $199 Dana Enulescu, Alina Haliliuc, Adriana Mitu, Alexander Nanau, Bogdan Theodor Olteanu, Carla Osman, Marius Stan, unbtc.ro, Katherine Verdery $10 – $74 Ștefania Ferchedău, Ioana Frîntu, Kyoko Hirano, Cristi Luca & Anonymous

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MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

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FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE Wed, Dec 2 7:00 pm

OPENING NIGHT: Intimate Bed d. Mircea Daneliuc, 101m In person: Mircea Daneliuc

Fri, Dec 4 [WRT]

Thu, Dec 3 3:45 pm

The World Is Mine d. Nicolae Constantin Tănase, 103m

[WRT]

6:00 pm

Aliyah DaDa d. Oana Giurgiu, 116m In person: Oana Giurgiu

[WRT]

9:00 pm

One Floor Below d. Radu Muntean, 93m

[WRT]

4:30 pm

One Floor Below d. Radu Muntean, 93m

[WRT]

6:45 pm

Bucharest Nonstop d. Dan Chișu, 86m In person: Dan Chișu

[WRT]

9:15 pm

The Cruise d. Mircea Daneliuc, 118m In person: Mircea Daneliuc

[WRT]

1:00 pm

California Dreamin’ (Endless) d. Cristian Nemescu, 155m In person: actor Andi Vasluianu

[WRT]

1:30 pm

New Romanian Shorts 144m

[AMP] FREE

4:00 pm

New Romanian Shorts 144m In person: directors Andrei Crețulescu, Luiza Pârvu & Andreea Vălean and producers Codruța Crețulescu & Toma Peiu

[AMP] FREE

The Snails’ Senator d. Mircea Daneliuc, 112m In person: Mircea Daneliuc & actress Cecilia Bârbora

[WRT]

Why Me? d. Tudor Giurgiu, 130m In person: Tudor Giurgiu, producer Oana Giurgiu, and actors Emilian Oprea & Mihai Constantin

[WRT]

The Treasure d. Corneliu Porumboiu, 89m

[WRT]

4:00 pm

6:30 pm

9:30 pm

1:30 pm

Corn Island d. George Ovashvili, 101m

[WRT]

3:30 pm

The Unsaved d. Igor Cobileanski, 80m preceded by Raisa, d. Pavel Cuzuioc, 15m / In person: Pavel Cuzuioc

[WRT]

5:30 pm

PANEL Creative Freedom through Cinema (Participants tba)

[AMP] FREE

5:30 pm

Toto and His Sisters d. Alexander Nanau, 94m

[WRT]

7:00 pm

New Romanian Shorts 144m

[AMP] FREE

8:00 pm

The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu d. Cristi Puiu, 154m

[WRT]

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

Sun, Dec 6

Sat, Dec 5

Mon, Dec 7 4:00 pm

Why Me? d. Tudor Giurgiu, 130m

[WRT]

6:30 pm

Trading Germans d. Răzvan Georgescu, 92m In person: producer Ada Solomon

[WRT]

8:30 pm

CLOSING NIGHT: Aferim! d. Radu Jude, 105m In person: producer Ada Solomon

[WRT] 33

MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema

Screening Venues:

TICKETS:

Film Society of Lincoln Center

Single screening tickets: $14; $11 for students and seniors (62+); and $9 for Film Society members.

WRT: Walter Reade Theater 165 West 65th Street, north side between Broadway & Amsterdam, upper level AMP: Amphitheater, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center 144 West 65th Street, south side between Broadway & Amsterdam

See more and save with the 3+ film discount package starting at $33; $27 for students and seniors; $24 for Film Society members.

All Access Pass: $99. See all films in Making Waves, including Opening Night and Closing Night screenings! Available for purchase exclusively online.

To purchase tickets: ONLINE at filmlinc.org IN PERSON at the Film Society box offices For free screenings and events: Complimentary tickets are available starting one hour prior to showtime at the corresponding venue’s box office.

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Making Waves continues at the Jacob Burns Film Center December 3–8 Thu, Dec 3, 7:30 PM: OPENING Night: Microphone Test, d. Mircea Daneliuc Fri, Dec 4, 7:15 PM: The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu, d. Cristi Puiu Sat, Dec 5, 5:00 PM: Jacob, d. Mircea Daneliuc Sat, Dec 5, 8:15 PM: The Treasure, d. Corneliu Porumboiu Sun, Dec 6, 2:00 PM: New Romanian Shorts Sun, Dec 6, 5:00 PM: Why Me?, d. Tudor Giurgiu Mon, Dec 7, 7:45 PM: Toto and His Sisters, d. Alexander Nanau Tue, Dec 8, 7:40 PM: Aferim!, d. Radu Jude Details & tickets at burnsfilmcenter.org

www.filmetc.org

www.filmlinc.org