Unfinished Histories www.roďŹ lmfest.com
Unfinished Histories Thursday 3 – Sunday 6 December 2015
Monday 30 November 2015
at Curzon Soho
Connected Event at EBRD
Thursday 3 December, 6.30 pm Gala night AFERIM! by Radu Jude followed by Q&A with lead actor Toma Cuzin
6.00 pm MOROMETII by Stere Gulea followed by Q&A with director Stere Gulea Screenings take place at:
Friday 4 December, 6.10 pm WHY ME? by Tudor Giurgiu followed by Q&A with actress Andreea Vasile Saturday 5 December, 6.30 pm ONE FLOOR BELOW by Radu Muntean followed by Q&A with scriptwriter Alexandru Baciu Sunday 6 December 3.30 pm BOX by Florin Serban followed by Q&A with producer Florentina Onea 6.30 pm THE TREASURE by Corneliu Porumboiu followed by Q&A with lead actor Toma Cuzin
Curzon Soho 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY between Thursday 3 – Sunday 6 December 2015 Tickets: £14 from www.curzoncinemas.com/rff Tel. 0330 500 1331 EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) One Exchange Square, London EC2A 2JN on Monday 30 November 2015 The Romanian Film Festival in London Tel. +44 (0)7456 542570; E-mail: press@rofilmfest.com; Web site: www.rofilmfest.com
WELCOME
“Now in its 13th year, the RFF has become a fixture in the glittering array of film events located in London. Since its inception, it has been a unique outlet for Romanian film makers as they built a dialogue about the nature of post-Communist Europe, at the same time offering British audiences access to the world of Romanian history, politics, and society.
During this year, 2015, the RFF echoes with the issues which have been sweeping through Europe in recent years – the self-realisation of minorities, the problems of constructing civil society, and the rights of the individual versus the state. In this way, the RFF stands as a record of its own history, a history of the times in which it flourishes, as well as a record of individual lives and stories.” Ramona Mitrica Mike Phillips Profusion directors
director
RADU JUDE
AFERIM!
Thursday 3 December, 6.30 pm AFERIM! Plus Q&A with lead actor Toma Cuzin hosted by writer Ian Haydn Smith at Curzon Soho 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY Director: Radu Jude • Romania/Bulgaria/Czech Republic 2015 • 105 mins • feature film • black & white • Romanian with English subtitles Cast: Teodor Corban, Mihai Comanoiu, Toma Cuzin, Alexandru Dabija, Alexandru Bindea, Luminita Gheorghiu, Victor Rebengiuc
In 19th century Romania, Costandin, a policeman of the time, and his son travel through the country in search of a fugitive Gypsy slave. RADU JUDE (1977) graduated from the filmmaking Department of Media University in 2003. He worked as an assistant director. He directed a series of short films, among which The Tube with a Hat (2006) (winner of more than 50 international prizes in Sundance, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Uppsala etc.) and Alexandra (2007) (selected in ClermontFerrand, awarded in Oberhausen). His debut feature film, The Happiest Girl in the World (2009), (winner of NHK/ Filmmaker Award in Sundance and Hubert Bals grant), was awarded the CICAE prize in Berlinale Forum 2009. It was selected in more than 50 film festivals among which were Toronto, New Directors/New Films - NY, Thessaloniki,
Sarajevo and London. The film was released in cinemas in France, UK, Austria and Spain. In 2011, he directed and produced the independent feature A Film for Friends. Everybody in Our Family (2012), his second feature film which premiered in Berlinale-Forum, received the Heart of Sarajevo Film Festival Award, Le Bayard d’Or for Best Film and Best Actor at Namur IFF, CinEast IFF Grand Prix, was selected in more than 30 film festivals around the world, and was released in cinemas in France, Holland and Hungary. His two recent short films Shadow of a Cloud (2013) and It Can Pass through the Wall (2014) were selected in Cannes Quinzaine des Realisateurs section. The latest was awarded with a Special Mention. World premiered in the 65th Berlinale Competition, Aferim! (2015) is Radu Jude’s third feature. He is currently in pre-production with the feature film Scarred Hearts, an adaptation of Max Blecher’s novel. TOMA CUZIN After graduating from the Sports Academy (boxing and athletic department) in 2002, Cuzin changed direction and took up acting. He immediately stood out among the young and promising Romanian actors. He played small parts in several shorts and features, and then had the step change of working with established directors such as Lucian Pintilie (Tertium non datur), Radu Muntean (The Paper Will Be Blue), Cristi Puiu (Aurora), Tudor Giurgiu (Of Snails and Men), Tudor Jurgiu (The Japanese Dog) or Corneliu Porumboiu (for his recent The Treasure, premiered in Cannes - Un Certain Regard). One of his most important roles in shorts is the leading part from the Berlinale awarded Silent River, by Anca Miruna Lazarescu. He is also involved in sitcoms and TV series. Romanian audiences are familiar with his parts in Tanti Florica and Las Fierbinti, the most successful PRO TV series. Aferim! represents his first collaboration with Radu Jude.
director
TUDOR GIURGIU
WHY ME?
Friday 4 December, 6.10 pm WHY ME? Plus Q&A with actress Andreea Vasile hosted by writer Ian Haydn Smith at Curzon Soho 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY Director: Tudor Giurgiu • Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary 2015 • 130 mins • feature film • Romanian with English subtitles • Romanian title: De ce eu? Cast: Emilian Oprea, Mihai Constantin, Andreea Vasile, Dan Condurache, Virgil Ogasanu Cristian, a young idealistic prosecutor whose career is on the rise, tries to crack a case against a senior colleague accused of corruption. The dilemma of choosing between his career and the truth weighs heavily on his shoulders. Pursuing a solution, he enters a danger zone paved with unexpected and painful revelations. TUDOR GIURGIU (1972) is a member of the European Film Academy, Eisenhower Fellow in 2014, founder and President of the Transilvania Int’l Film Festival, Full Moon Horror & Fantasy Film Festival and initiator of the Gopo Awards – Romania’s national film awards. Founder of the production company Libra Film, film distribution company Transilvania Film. Graduated Bucharest Film Academy in 1995 and worked as 1st assistant director for directors like Lucian Pintilie and Radu Mihaileanu. He was also General Director of Romanian National Television (TVR) between 2005-2007.
Director and producer of numerous commercials and music videos, as well as several successful short or feature films. His directorial debut feature Love Sick was selected in the Panorama section of 2006 Berlinale and awarded in several international festivals. His short Superman, Spiderman or Batman (2011) won many festivals worldwide (Aspen, Valladolid, etc) and won Best European Short at the 2012 edition of European Film Awards. Tudor’s second feature, Of Snails and Men, was awarded with the Special Jury Prize in Warsaw IFF and other festivals. He produced or coproduced many feature films, including Katalin Varga by Peter Strickland (Silver Bear in 2009 Berlinale and European Discovery of the Year at EFA Awards). ANDREEA VASILE has a master’s degree in acting from the University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest (class of 2010). In 2014, she was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus program at the Berlin International Film Festival. Three years before, she also took part in Sarajevo’s Talent Campus program. She made her acting debut on the small screen in the TV series ER, and had her first lead role in a feature film in Green Moon (dir. Alexa Visarion). In recent years, she appeared in TV shows such as Open Your Eyes and Icomedy, in between many roles in theatre. This year, she can be seen in a TV series produced by HBO Romania, Shadows, and also in Tudor Giurgiu’s latest feature, Why Me? (which had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival), playing the lead in both productions. She has starred in several short films, the most recent one, Holiday at the Seaside (dir. Cristina Grosan) being awarded a prize in 2013 at Sarajevo Film Festival. Andreea Vasile had supporting roles in I’m an Old Communist Hag (dir. Stere Gulea) and Q.E.D (dir. Andrei Gruszniczki). In 2016 she will appear in Adrian Sitaru’s latest feature, The Fixer, in one of the leading roles.
director
RADU MUNTEAN
ONE FLOOR BELOW
Saturday 5 December, 6.30 pm ONE FLOOR BELOW Plus Q&A with scriptwriter Alexandru Baciu hosted by writer Ian Haydn Smith at Curzon Soho 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY Director: Radu Muntean • Romania 2015 • 93 mins • feature film • Romanian with English subtitles • Romanian title: Un etaj mai jos Cast: Teodor Corban, Iulian Postelnicu, Oxana Moravec, Ionut Bora, Tatiana Iekel, Maria Popistasu, Adrian Vancica After being the sole unfortunate witness to a domestic quarrel that ends up in murder, Patrascu finds himself at odds with two very close neighbours: one is the bizarre murderer. The other is his very own conscience. RADU MUNTEAN (1971) is a Romanian film director and screenwriter. He graduated from the Theatre and Film Academy in Bucharest in 1994, where he directed three short films. Since 1996, he has directed over 400 commercials and has won over 40 national and international awards in various advertising festivals. His feature debut, The Rage (2003) was awarded Best First Film by The Romanian Filmmakers Union, and Best Photography at the 2003 Transilvania International
Film Festival. His second feature, The Paper Will Be Blue (2006), as well as Boogie (2008) are representative of the Romanian New Wave. They were followed by Tuesday, After Christmas (2010). His 2015 film One Floor Below was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. ALEXANDRU BACIU has a background in film directing. However, he works mainly as a scriptwriter, and his features have been selected in major film festivals, such as Cannes, Locarno, New York or San Sebastian. Together with Radu Muntean and Razvan Radulescu, he wrote the scripts for Radu Muntean’s The Paper Will be Blue, Boogie, Tuesday, After Christmas, and One Floor Below. He also co-wrote Constantin Popescu’s Principles of Life and Gruber’s Journey, directed by Radu Gabrea. He made his directorial debut with the documentary Visiting Room, written and directed together with Radu Muntean and produced by HBO Romania. For the past three years he has also tutored for the “Secvente” scriptwriting workshop.
director
FLORIN SERBAN
BOX
Sunday 6 December, 3.30 pm BOX Plus Q&A with producer Florentina Onea hosted by screen writer Mike Phillips at Curzon Soho 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY Director: Florin Serban • Romania/Hungary 2015 • 94 mins • feature film • Romanian and Hungarian with English subtitles Cast: Claudia Ardelean, Orlando Chirvase, Derzsi Dezso, Hilda Peter, Narcis Romulus Dobrin Box is a movie about a simple game: a game with no rules, a game in which nobody is safe. Under the pretext of a love story, Box unfolds a coming-of-age narrative. Rafael and Cristina were never supposed to meet. He is 19, Gypsy, works in a car-wash and wants to make it big as a boxer. He lives with his grandfather and he is about to have a breakthrough as an athlete. She is 34, Hungarian, an actress in the local theatre, married, and going through a professional and personal crisis. FLORIN SERBAN (1975) studied at Columbia University in New York and holds a Master’s Degree in Film Directing. He graduated from the Romanian National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest and the University BabesBolyai in Cluj, where he holds a BA in Philosophy and a MA in the Philosophy of Culture and Hermeneutics. During his studies, he wrote and directed short films and documentaries, and won numerous scholar awards and
scholarships. With his directorial debut in feature film If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle, Florin Serban received the Silver Bear – Grand Prize of the Jury and the Alfred Bauer Award for innovation in cinema at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. The film also received many other best film and best director awards. With his second feature film, Box, Florin Serban won the FIPRESCI Prize at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2015 and has been selected for the Toronto International Film Festival. Florin is now working on his third feature film, America, which recently received the support of the Romanian National Centre for Cinema. He is also the creator and coordinator of The Acting School in Bucharest. FLORENTINA ONEA began her film career as assistant on a short project directed by Tudor Giurgiu. After a few years working in TV and producing short films, notably Traffic, directed by Catalin Mitulescu, she began her association as producer with such directors as Cristian Mungiu and Constantin Popescu, working on Tales from the Golden Age, then 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. In 2009 she sparked off the founding of the “Script Cultural Association” which created the documentary Music in the Blood which set out to eliminate misconceptions about Roma citizens. This was followed by some of her most challenging productions – If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle and Loverboy. In the process, Onea has been one of the most decorated producers in Romanian cinema, winning prizes in St Petersburg, Berlin, Cork, Warsaw and Trieste.
director
CORNELIU PORUMBOIU
THE TREASURE
Sunday 6 December, 6.30 pm THE TREASURE Plus Q&A with lead actor Toma Cuzin
wife and child, he is a hero. And heroes usually get what they want…
hosted by screen writer Mike Phillips
CORNELIU PORUMBOIU (1975) graduated from the Film Directing department of the National University of Theatre and Film from Bucharest. He had his early films seen in important cinematographic events in Europe and USA - A Trip to the City (2003) won the Second Prize at Cinefondation, Cannes Film Festival, and the Best Short Movie Prize at Cinema Mediteraneen Film Festival, Montpellier; Liviu’sDream (2003) was the Best Romanian Film at TIFF, Romania, and was selected at Telluride Film Festival, Great Expectations Section. He started 42 Km Film in 2005, and acted as a producer, director and screenwriter for the features that his company produced. Over the years, The Coproduction Office and Wild Bunch distributed his films worldwide and Les Films du Worso and Rouge International were his coproducers. His films were screened around the world in cinemas or in festivals such as the ones from Cannes, Sarajevo, Vienna, Locarno, Thessaloniki, Busan, Minsk, Brazil, Copenhagen, Kiev, Buenos Aires, Bangkok, Brussels, Hamburg, Belfort, Romania, etc. In 2011, he was a member of the Cinefondation section Jury in Cannes Film Festival. His debut feature, 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006) won the Camera d’Or award, and Police, Adjective (2009) won the Jury Prize at Cannes. They were followed by When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism (2013), and the documentary The Second Game (2014). The Treasure won the Un Certain Talent award at Cannes 2015.
at Curzon Soho 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY Director: Corneliu Porumboiu • Romania/France 2015 • 89 mins • feature film • Romanian with English subtitles • Romanian title: Comoara Cast: Toma Cuzin, Adrian Purcarescu, Cristina Toma, Nicodim Toma, Corneliu Cozmei Costi is a 33 year old accountant who spends his time between work and quiet evenings with his family, reading fairy tales to his 5 year old son. He thinks stories are very important in his son’s education, and sometimes he sees himself in the role of important and positive characters, especially heroes. One evening he is disturbed when reading “Robin Hood” by his neighbour Adrian, who asks Costi to lend him some money. He has huge debts to the bank and will soon lose the apartment where he lives. He needs money to rent a metal detector to scan his grandparents’ courtyard, where he thinks there is a buried treasure. If Costi will pay for the detector and they find the treasure, they will share it equally. While at first Costi and his wife are sceptical, soon they are drawn into this story and start to plan what to do with the money earned from selling the treasure. When the attempt to find the treasure seems doomed to failure and Adrian is ready to quit, Costi doesn’t lose hope. In the eyes of his
director
STERE GULEA
MOROMETII
Connected Event - Monday 30 November, 5.00 pm MOROMETII Plus Q&A with director Stere Gulea hosted by screen writer Mike Phillips and Larry Sherwin, EBRD Deputy Director of Communications at EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) One Exchange Square, London EC2A 2JN. Doors open at 5.00 pm. Screening starts at 6.00 pm sharp. No late admittance. Free entry, but booking is essential. Register at press@rofilmfest.com.
Director: Stere Gulea • Romania 1988 • 142 mins • feature film • black & white • Romanian with English subtitles Cast: Victor Rebengiuc, Luminita Gheorghiu, Gina Patrichi, Dorel Visan, Mitica Popescu, Constantin Chiriac Morometii (meaning the Moromete family) is an adaptation of the first volume of a modern classic of Romanian literature, bearing the same name, published in two volumes (1955 and 1967) by Marin Preda, who is rightly considered as one of the best post-World War Two Romanian novelists. Ilie Moromete faces constant problems: his sister’s nagging, taxes and the work in the fields, whilst his older sons, almost grown-up, are now showing signs of rebellion. The book on which the film is based famously starts with the phrase “time showed endless patience to the people”. Yet, in a period heralding irreversible changes, in between the two World Wars, the Moromete family is facing break-up. Ilie Moromete, a real ‘pater familias’, magisterially played by Victor Rebengiuc, feels this, and tries to cling to a way of life which – now we know – is doomed both by the impending war and by the communist regime the Soviets will install. Time no longer has any patience and cracks have started to appear in the mesh of traditional peasant family. Film director Stere Gulea, taking over from
Marin Preda, has managed to convey, through the character of Ilie Moromete, the archetype of the Romanian peasant. STERE GULEA (1943) is of Aromanian (Macedo-Romanian) origin. His best known feature is Morometii (1988). He also codirected the documentary University Square – Romania (1991), a presentation of the one-month long rally in University Place, Bucharest, where Romanian people demonstrated against the neo-communist government which had taken power after the toppling of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The film also shows the brutal repression of the rally by the government forces. After 1989, Stere Gulea became a respected civil society activist. Selected filmography: I Am An Old Communist Hag (2013), Weekend With My Mother (2009), Hacker (2004), State of Things (1996), Fox – Hunter (1993), University Square – Romania (documentary, 1991), Morometii (1988), The Bear’s Eye (1983), Castle of the Carpathians (1981), The Green Grass of Home (1978). VICTOR REBENGIUC is one of the most distinguished Romanian stage and screen actors, a real acting legend with a career spanning more than 50 years. He is also renowned as a civil society activist. In 1957, he made his debut as a member of the famous Bulandra Theatre company, acting in more than 200 roles on that stage alone. With his breakthrough performance in Liviu Ciulei’s The Forest of the Hanged, Rebengiuc became a major figure in Romanian cinema, idolised for his 1988 appearance in Stere Gulea’s Morometii. He has also starred in films by Dan Pita (Tanase Scatiu; Sand Cliffs) and Lucian Pintilie (Carnival Scenes; The Oak; Too Late; Last Stop Paradise; Niki and Flo; Tertium non datur). In his career, Victor Rebengiuc has worked with all the greats of Romanian cinematography, while also working for younger directors such as Cristi Puiu, Radu Muntean, Lucian Georgescu, Calin Peter Netzer, Tudor Cristian Jurgiu and Radu Jude.
When we started publishing under the name Profusion, our aim was to bring aspects of East European literary culture, hitherto unknown in Britain, to the attention of the reading public. This was because most publications from the region were, more or less, “highbrow”, while popular stories and genres such as crime fiction tended to go unnoticed. Our list of books and authors is therefore a factor in increasing knowledge throughout Europe about the life and prospects of ordinary men and women in the region. If interested, please find the Profusion list below. You can order our books through Amazon, Gardners, Bertrams, or through the Profusion web site directly: www.profusion.org.uk
PROFUSION GOLD SERIES The Innocent And Collateral Victims Of A Bloody War With Russia by Liviu Antonesei Greuceanu – Novel With A Policeman by Stelian Turlea Report On The State Of Loneliness by Augustin Buzura PROFUSION CRIME SERIES Attack in the Library by George Arion Kill the General by Bogdan Hrib Anatomical Clues by Oana Stoica-Mujea Rimaru - Butcher of Bucharest by Mike Phillips and Stejarel Olaru
For any further details, please write to us on mail@profusion.org.uk
Series Editor: Mike Phillips
All our books are available in paperback, as well as Kindle e-books.
Published by Profusion International Creative Consultancy
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CLASSIC - £55 2 free tickets to use over the course of the year - £1 or more off for your guest • 15% discount on food & drink • No bookings fees
The aim of the Profusion scholarship is to contribute to the development of emerging film makers with a Romanian background.
CULT - £350 Free entry to all films • Money off tickets for your guest • 15% discount on food & drink • No bookings fees COMPLETE - £950 Free entry to all films and events for you and a guest • 15% discount on food & drink • No bookings fees
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The first scholarships were awarded to the young Romanian cinematographer Simona Susnea (2013), and to London-based Romanian film-maker Maria Chiriac (2014). In 2015 the Profusion scholarship scheme intends to promote films based on the diasporic experience and to encourage the development of young filmmakers from the diaspora.
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Organised by Profusion International Creative Consultancy in partnership with The National Centre of Cinematography in Bucharest, and Curzon Cinemas in London. Supported by The Minsitry of External Affairs - The Department for the Relation with Romanians Abroad, The Union of Romanian Filmmakers (UCIN), Levenes Solicitors, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ROMANi-ONLiNE.co.uk, Albinuta.co.uk, Blue Air, Tiberiu.co.uk (TibTrans), and Traduceri Autorizate. Festival Team: Ramona Mitrica – festival director; Mike Phillips – festival curator; Alina Salcudeanu – festival consultant; Dan Mitrica – webmaster; Laura Lazar – advertising/web editor; Eugen Androne – logistics; Kwesi Phillips, Mihai Risnoveanu (SGS Creative) – media. Special thanks: Angel Tilvar, Anca Mitran, Laurentiu Damian, Ana Santos, Michael Garrad, Kiran Dhanoya, Paul Brown, Victor Makourin, Phu To, Irene Musumeci, Margot Daviot, Jon Wood, Marissa La Spina, Ian Haydn Smith, Larry Sherwin, Tina Hoy, Adrian Cherciu, Christian Havrincea, Vali Staicu, Embassy of Romania to the UK, Andrei Sirbulescu, Elena Mitrica, Remus Robu, Tiberiu Antohi, GHiDUL ROMANESC Acest proiect este realizat cu sprijinul Ministerului Afacerilor Externe – Departamentul Politici pentru Relaþia cu Românii de Pretutindeni.