American Romanian Festival 2012 Program Book

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL

2 12 FILM SERIES.

www.americanromanianfestival.org

WELCOME TABLE OF CONTENTS Board Members

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Thank You

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Film Series Outbound

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Tuesday After Christmas

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Philanthropy

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The Phantom Father

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About the Artists Dr. Corina Kesler

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Bogdan George Apetri

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Ramona Uritescu-Lombard

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Sponsors BOARD MEMBERS Maureen D’Avanzo Franz Herbert Silviu Pala John Rakolta Jr. John Santeiu Jr. Charles Slater Marian Tănău

7 THANK YOU Lisa Borgsdorf Manager, Public Programs, University of Michigan Museum of Art Nick Ioannou Dr. Corian Kesler English and Comparative Literature, University of Michigan Ramona Uritescu-Lombard Lecturer in Germanic Languages and Literature, University of Michigan Lori Newman editing and program notes Claudia Petrescu Professor, Political Science Department, Eastern Michigan University

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AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL

John Rakolta Jr. Romanian Honorary Consul in Detroit, Romanian Cultural Institute in New York Dr. James Ryan Executive Director for Development and Governmental Relations, Schoolcraft College Alina Salcudeanu Responsible Foreign Affairs, Romanian Film Center The Santeiu Family Liana Tatos

FILM SERIES. University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), Helmut Stern Auditorium 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 FREE ADMISSION

Outbound

Saturday, November 3, 2012 4 p.m. Pre-screening Talk with Bogdan George Apetri 5 p.m. Screening followed by Q&A Periferic, 2010; dir. Bogdan George Apetri, English Subtitles, 87 min

Taking to the streets, Matilda (Ana Ularu) has 24 hours to make everything right—or wrong, depending on how you look at it.

Trapped in a five-year prison sentence for a crime she didn't commit, Matilda’s already spent two years behind bars and has no intention of serving any more time. Given a day pass for her mother’s funeral, she’s got a lot to make up for and very little time to do it in. Outbound, she hits her targets one by one; she visits her brother, buries her mother and collects on a debt from a casual lover. Final destination: a cargo ship and the open sea. But first she must contend with the responsibility closest to her heart. ❖

Tuesday After Christmas Sunday, November 4, 2012 4 p.m. Lecture with Dr. Corina Kesler 5 p.m. Screening followed by Q&A

Marti, dupa Craciun, 2010; dir. Radu Munteanu, English Subtitles, 99 min

Paul Hanganu loves two women: Adriana his wife and the mother of their daughter, the woman with whom he’s shared the thrills of the past ten years; and Raluca the woman who has made him redefine himself. He has to leave one of them before Christmas. ❖

“Outbound is a gripping film, a hard-nosed little thriller [...] Ana Ularu carries the film with assurance, letting the character’s femininity and mothering instinct show only in subtle smiles and gestures. There is considerable suspense.” —The Hollywood Reporter

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FILM SERIES University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), Helmut Stern Auditorium 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 FREE ADMISSION

Philanthropy

Saturday, November 17, 2012 4 p.m. Pre-screening Talk with Ramona Uritescu-Lombard, “Trends in Post-Socialist Romanian Cinema” 5 p.m. Screening followed by Q&A Filantropica, 2002; dir. Nae Caranfil, English Subtitles, 110 min

A tragi-comedy about a poor sod chasing a dream (and a woman) in chaotic post-socialist Romania.

Ovidiu (Mircea Diaconu) is a teacher and struggling writer who still resides with his parents. He falls in love with young, fashionable Diana (Viorica Voda), the sister of one of his students. To impress her, he agrees to a scam thought up by the roguish Pepe (Gheorghe Dinica), a rising man in the beggars’ mob and a brilliant puppetmaster—with hilarious and dire consequences. ❖

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AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL

The Phantom Father

Sunday, November 18, 2012 4 p.m. Screening followed by Q&A Tatal Fantoma, 2011; dir. Lucian Georgescu, English Subtitles, 90 min

American professor Robert Traum embarks on an adventurous and amusing journey through Bucovina to find Sami, the projectionist, the only person still alive who can tell him anything about his Romanian Jewish descent. His symbolic journey is filled with danger, the unknown, and the surreal, but finally rewarded with a double love: for a woman; and for early cinema: nomadic, popular, naive and generous. ❖

ABOUT THE. ARTISTS

Bogdan George Apetri

Dr. Corina Kesler

FILMMAKER

Dr. Corina Kesler (PhD Comparative Literature, University of Michigan, 2011) is a Great Books Lecturer in the Honors Program at University of Michigan. Her translation of Jean Andreau’s The Economy of the Roman Empire will be published in December by the Michigan Classics Press.

Her research interests include: comparative utopian studies, gender in science fiction and mystical utopias, Jewish mysticism, Communist Romanian Literature, Postcolonial Utopias in the New English Literatures, and contemporary applied utopias in England, Romania, Ireland, Israel, Italy, South Korea, and United Arab Emirates.❖

Bogdan George Apetri is a Romanian filmmaker based in New York. A lawyer in his native country, he moved to the U.S. and graduated from Columbia University with a dual MFA degree in film directing and cinematography. Before Outbound, he directed and produced a series of short films that were selected by many prominent festivals and garnered several awards in the process, culminating in a 2006 Student Academy Awards nomination. In addition to directing, Apetri recently coproduced Eric Mendelsohn’s 3 Backyards and Florin Serban’s Emigrant.❖

LECTURER

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ABOUT..THE. ARTISTS..

Ramona Uritescu-Lombard LECTURER Ramona Uritescu-Lombard is a Lecturer in German and Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she teaches courses in German and French literature. She was born in Timisoara, Romania, and her training is in Comparative Literature (University of Western Ontario, Harvard University).

Her interests include migration literature, affect in literature and film, and more recently, New Romanian Cinema. She has taught an introductory course on Romanian culture in the twentieth century at the University of Michigan.â?–

MISSION The mission of the American Romanian Festival is to create a bridge between the two cultures, which will help to foster mutual understanding.

A specific focus of the festival will be to promote cultural awareness, and understanding between people of culture, musicians, and artists of the United States and Romania.

The festival organizes educational, cultural and artistic events, which will take place in Romania and the US. The organization supports cultural exchanges with Americans participating in events in Romania and Romanians participating in the events in the US. The American Romanian Festival is a 501 c (3) non-profit organization. americanromanianfestival.org

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AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL

SPONSORS.

GOLD LEVEL Anonymous Romanian Friend Schoolcraft College Marian & Jennifer Tănău SILVER LEVEL University of Michigan Museum of Art Romanian Film Center Romanian Cultural Institute in New York Metlife Meet The Composer BRONZE LEVEL Silviu & Gela Pala Charles & Carol Slater Liana Tatos FRIENDS CIRCLE Maureen & Jerry D’Avanzo Barbara & Paul Burakoff Mr. & Mrs. Liviu Capatina Linda Joy & Brad Carol Vanja & Daniella Cemalovic Robert & Esther Churella Doug & Minka Cornelson Cosmin Dr. Dascalu Doina & Mihai David

Ileana Dragnea Anne & Kevin Ellis Nadia Gamaneci Adi & Ella Gheorghiu Cristina Muresan & Rabah Hadjit Liz & Hugh Huntley Jeannette Jackson Nick Ioannou Anna & Paraschiva Jonascu Jennifer Jue Viorel & Mihaela Lupu Shoshana Mandel Victor Marinescu Adrian & Camelia Nedelea Razvan Pala Magdalena Predeteanu Fr. Romey Preoteasa Octavian & Janice Arps Prundeanu Mary Ellen Rosco Denise Santeiu Chris Santeiu John the 3rd & Liz Santeiu Peter & Jennifer Santeiu Logan & Lisa Skelton Vlad Tudorache Gina Willis

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To make a tax-deductible contribution, please make checks and mail to:

American Romanian Festival Inc. 1407 Ferdon Road Ann Arbor, MI 48104

www.americanromanianfestival.org