2014 media report - Romanian Film Initiative

 2014 MAKING WAVES: New Romanian Cinema MEDIA REPORT NEW YORK AND U.S. NATIONAL MEDIA (January 2015) Festival Publicist: JMP Verdant Communications Contact: Julia Pacetti, julia@jmpverdant.com MOVIES
Movie Listings for Dec. 5-Dec. 11
Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema (through Monday) Now in
its ninth year, this annual festival offers perhaps the city’s definitive look at
one of world cinema’s most dynamic outposts. “The Japanese Dog” (Friday
at 4 p.m.) may be Romania’s submission for Academy Award consideration
this year, but interest is also high for the soccer-themed “The Second
Game” (Sunday at 3:30 p.m.), the latest film by the “Police,
Adjective” director Corneliu Porumboiu, and a two-film tribute to Stere
Gulea, who will introduce both his mythopoeic 1987 classic “The
Journey” (Sunday at 7:45 p.m.) and last year’s memorably titled “I’m an
Old Communist Hag” (Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.). Elinor Bunin
Munroe Film Center, Lincoln Center, 144 West 65th Street, 212-8755600, filmlinc.com; $13. (Grode)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/movies/movie-listings-for-dec-5dec-11.html
PLEASANTVILLE Jacob Burns Film Center “Making Waves: New
Romanian Cinema,” series. Dec. 5 through 10. $7.50 to $15. Jacob Burns
Film Center, 364 Manville Road. 914-747-5555; burnsfilmcenter.org.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/nyregion/events-in-westchesterfor-nov-30-dec-6-2014.html?_r=0
Movies
THE SECOND GAME
The Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu brings history close to home in this
ingenious conceptual documentary. The film’s images are a grainy video
rebroadcast of a 1988 soccer game in Bucharest between two teams affiliated,
respectively, with the Army and the secret police—a game for which Porumboiu’s
father, Adrian, was the referee. In lieu of the broadcast’s original live sports
commentary, Porumboiu fills the soundtrack with his own real-time discussion
with his father, who, at the time of the match, was receiving death threats. Their
talks reveal the former referee’s insights into the political conflicts hidden behind
the on-field struggle, his psychological probe of the players’ personalities, and his
own state of mind and plan of action while he deployed his power in the interest
of a well-ordered microcosm. The resulting clash of sound and image gives the
game the amplitude and the depth of a fictional work, and offers allegorical
implications for a society that was on the verge of drastic change.
—Richard Brody
December 3 – December 9
http://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/second-game
Movies
REVIVALS AND FESTIVALS
FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
“New Romanian Films.” Dec. 4 at 7 and Dec. 5 at 4: “The Japanese Dog” (2013,
Tudor Cristian Jurgiu). Ÿ Dec. 5 at 8:30: “Quod Erat Demonstrandum” (2013,
Andrei Gruzsniczki), Ÿ Dec. 6 at 5:15 and Dec. 7 at 5:30: “Roxanne” (2013,
Valentin Hotea). Ÿ Dec. 7 at 3:30: “The Second Game.”
http://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies
A Life in the Israeli Army, Plus the Best of
Spectacle
‘Zero Motivation’ at Film Forum and Highlights From a Year of
Screenings
Daria Vitkova in ‘Viktoria’ ROMANIAN FILM INITIATIVE
By STEVE DOLLAR
Dec. 3, 2014 6:29 p.m. ET
Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema 2014
Film Society of Lincoln Center 165 W. 65th St. (212) 875-5601 Through
Monday The annual showcase of recent film from Romania includes the new one
from Corneliu Porumboiu (whose “12:08 East of Bucharest” was a high point of
the country’s cinematic new wave of the 2000s) and its official Academy Award
submission, “The Japanese Dog.” There’s also room for Bulgarian director Maya
Vitkova’s debut “Viktoria,” a surreal and bleakly comic 21 2–hour saga about
communism and maternal bloodlines. Subversive and irreverent, Ms. Vitkova’s
metaphor about a magical child who becomes a symbol of the Bulgarian state has
visual flair to match its bold imagination.
See It Big! Animation
Museum of the Moving Image 36-01 35 Ave., Queens (718) 777-6888 Through
Dec. 28 Each weekend through the end of the year, the museum screens an
international selection of the most creative animated films since the 1970s, and in
35mm whenever possible. The series continues this week with “My Neighbor
Totoro,” from the recently retired Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. Upcoming
films include the Belgian stop-motion feature “A Town Called Panic,” Henry
Selick ’s “Coraline” in 3-D and Ari Folman ’s groundbreaking “Waltz with Bashir.”
Nelly Tagar and Dana Ivgy in ‘Zero Motivation’ZEITGEIST
FILMS
‘Zero Motivation’
Film Forum 209 W. Houston St. (212) 7278110 Through Dec. 16 Not so much
antiestablishment as anti-boredom, young women
serving out their obligatory two years in the Israeli
military at an isolated desert base revolt against
their lot: Basically, they’re armed office workers, ever subservient to the maledominated hierarchy. Writer-director Talya Lavie ’s debut comedy offers a
cultural critique from the inside-out, built around a feckless virginal conscript’s
coming of age story. The film was a box-office smash in Israel, where audiences
easily identified with the institutional absurdity. But the slacker humor requires
scarce translation.
Best of Spectacle 2014—Part 1
Spectacle 124 S. Third St., Brooklyn spectacletheater.com Through Dec. 23 The
Williamsburg micro-cinema surveys highlights from a year of adventurous
programs. Look for “Go Down Death,” a supremely oddball, low-budget
production that meditates on mythic Americana, framing a rustic limbo in
luminous black-and-white: It’s Ken Burns ’s “The Civil War” meets “Eraserhead.”
Cult-film fans can also check out revivals of 1980s Alphabet City flashback
“Liquid Sky,” the three-hour Peter Greenaway sci-fi rarity “The Falls” and the
documentary “Divorce Iranian Style.”
A scene from ‘Concerning Violence.’ KINO LORBER
‘Concerning Violence’
IFC Center 323 Sixth Ave.; (212) 9247771 Through Dec. 11 Swedish filmmaker Göran
Hugo Olsson (“The Black Power Mixtape”) again
makes use of rare archival footage to offer
perspective on historical events: This time, the
focus is Africa and efforts to throw off colonial rule by armed revolt from the
1960s onward. The film’s title is drawn from philosopher Frantz Fanon, whose
1961 treatise “The Wretched of the Earth” supplies a forceful text read by singer
Lauryn Hill. The scenes often shock, juxtaposing the horrors of jungle warfare
with episodes of white colonists living it up.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/a-life-in-the-israeli-army-plus-the-best-ofspectacle-1417649355
Making Waves New Romanian Cinema
Review: Romania's Spare, Beautiful Oscar
Entry 'The Japanese Dog'
By Kevin Jagernauth | The Playlist
December 5, 2014 at 7:56PM
Produced with the participation of HBO Romania, "The Japanese Dog"
features no scenes of violence, no bad language, not even the barest suggestion of
sex or nudity, and the minimal events that unfurl over the span of 83 minutes,
might be the first act of a single episode in any cable network program. However,
the debut feature film by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu is far from dull. A surprisingly
expressive, layered drama, the filmmaking may be unshowy, but it's confident
and compelling, allowing viewers to settle into its intimate story, told in gentle,
hushed rhythms. The aesthetic may not be for everyone's taste, but Jurgiu's film
is deeply refreshing cinema, using what little it has to evoke a complex portrait of
a man coming to terms with the final stage of his life.
Costache (Victor Rebengiuc) is an elderly man of few words, and fierce
independence. A flood recently ravaged the small town where he lives, and
Costache, who tragically lost his wife Maria, is now putting the pieces back
together. With stoic determination he's steadily getting the house he's been
allotted into livable shape, and he's got potential wealth on the horizon in a
brewing land deal with a power company, facilitated by local officials, that could
net him a hefty sum...if he can negotiate a fair price. But those talks don't get very
far because as Costache explains, he has no idea what he would do with that kind
of money anyway. But the arrival of his estranged son Ticu (Serban Pavlu),
with his Japanese wife, Hiroku (Kana Hashimoto), and his young son, Paul
Koji (Toma Hashimoto), finds Costache forced to engage with a new family he
hadn't considered a possibility.
And it's against this backdrop of tentative reconciliation that Jurgiu quietly
unfolds thoughtful ruminations, but not polemics, on the differing views of two
generations and what Romania's future holds for them. For Paul, who has been
gone many years, married a woman from another country, and has built a life
abroad, it's clear that his homeland has long since been viewed as a place of
opportunity. And in fact, part of the reason for his return, has been to coax his
father to come with him back to Japan. But for Costache, he cannot think of
leaving. Almost every facet of his life have been defined by the small routines and
familiar faces of the town, and for his part, he would be more pleased if his son
re-settled where he was born instead. And thus marks the divide between father
and son, one that in its own softly persuasive way will be resolved by the film's
end, in a manner that Jurgiu reaches delicately, letting the reasons for key
decisions arrive like the final, graceful note in a sip of fine wine.
Not surprisingly, Jurgiu's elegant film is shot just as carefully as its told. While
the economy of the film's production may seem like something more due to the
constraints of a limited budget rather than an aesthetic choice, a careful viewing
of the film reveals this not to be the case. More often than not, Jurgiu choses to
have scenes play out unbroken in front of an unmoving camera, with characters
interacting within each painterly composition. But when the camera does move,
in slow pans, the moments and sequences for which they are utilized have added
dramatic impact, and particularly for those accustomed to American cinema's
tendency for fast cuts and frenetic filmmaking, it's something of a revelation, and
provides a real appreciation for the craftsmanship of filmmaking.
While it's Romania's entry for this year's Academy Award race, "The Japanese
Dog" likely doesn't stand much of a chance against starrier, buzzier foreign film
entries with bigger PR machines behind them. But for anyone who follows
international cinema, don't let Jurgiu's film pass you by. He's a filmmaker
blessed with the rarest gifts of storytelling, technical precision and the confidence
not to make himself or his technique a presence in every frame of the movie.
Debuts rarely arrive as composed as this, and "The Japanese Dog" confirms
Jurgiu as a notable emerging talent. [A]
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/making-waves-new-romanian-cinemareview-romanias-spare-beautiful-oscar-entry-the-japanese-dog-20141205
Making Waves New Romanian Cinema
Review: Complex And Thoughtful 'Quod Erat
Demonstrandum’
By Kevin Jagernauth | The Playlist
December 10, 2014 at 5:17PM
2014 marked 25 years since the Berlin Well fall, the West opened up, and
Germany was finally united as a whole again. Yet over two decades on, how life
under that oppressive regime functioned continues to fascinate filmmakers and
storytellers, with numerous television series and films dedicated to that very
subject. But perhaps less well documented on the big screen has been what
Romanians endured under the Communist rule ofNicolae Ceaușescu. And
writer/director Andrei Gruzsniczki tackles it head on in his quietly complex
"Quod Erat Demonstrandum," which concerns itself with the absurdities of
bureaucracy, and how a system of repression isn't guided by black-and-white
rules, but a moral and ethical gray area in which both the authorities and citizens
must decide how comfortably corrupt they're willing to be to save their soul.
For Sorin Parvu (Sorin Leoveanu), mathematics is a lifeline from an existence
otherwise defined by living at home with his nosy mother. He's a genius who is on
the cusp of a major breakthrough that could change the field forever, but there
are a couple of problems. Firstly, before he can publish his findings it must be
cleared by the state, and secondly, he's not a registered Communist. Moreover,
having published a paper on the sly in an American journal already without
getting the proper clearance, it makes it a considerably more challenging hill to
climb if he wants to further his career and obtain his doctorate.
However, his situation is one ripe for investigation by Securitate agent Alecu
Voican (Florin Piersic Jr.). He too is hoping to advance his own career, seeing
colleagues his own age move up ahead of him. Alecu hasn't played the game of
buddying up with his superiors and is now seeing the results (or rather, the lack
of them), but if he can close this case, he could see his fortunes improve. Not only
does his career need a boost, but his morale does too. He's recently divorced, and
his ex-wife has a clear disdain for the kind of work he does. And as Alecu looks
into Sorin, he'll cross paths with Elena (Ofelia Popii), whose husband—and
Sorin's best friend—escaped to Paris, where she too hopes to go with her son to
reunite with him. But getting the paperwork has been an arduous process, and
she'll eventually have a difficult decision to make that will have consequences for
both Alecu and Sorin.
Too slow burning to be called a thriller, yet containing enough suspenseful
moving parts that it can't be called a drama, Gruzsniczki's film hides a complex
machinery beneath its stark, black and white surface. The gorgeous monochrome
cinematography by Vivi Dragan Vasile is a wise choice, one that goes beyond
offering a visual cue to the soul stultifying mechanics of life under Communism,
in which almost every facet of existence seems to be a political negotiation. It also
transmits the hellish routine of the paper pushing that keeps the regime going,
and the canyons of loneliness that plague our lead characters.
However, there is also warmth to be found in "Quod Erat Demonstradum," even
if the title itself is coolly academic. And that feeling comes from Sorin and Elena,
who find both their fates and lives bound together by the man who is his best
friend and her husband, all while the prowling Alecu closes in on what he rightly
perceives to be a scheme brewing between the pair. But the film makes no
judgments of Alecu either, rather it finds all three trying to come to grips with
how far they'll able to go for their individual ends. Indeed, the great irony of this
Communist rule is that it's everyone for themselves.
Thoughtful and controlled, this drama is nevertheless hugely involving. As it
slowly unravels, ambition, deception, desperation, and hope are like steadily
moving walls looking to trap Sorin, Elena, and Alecu. While their bodies may
wind up being free, the price for that will cost so much more. [A]
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/making-waves-new-romanian-cinemareview-quod-erat-demonstrandum-20141210
The Pleasantville Examiner
What Lies Beneath: Corneliu Porumboiu’s
“The Second Game”
BY CRAIG HUBERT | DECEMBER 05, 2014
Still from Corneliu Porumboiu's "The Second Game." (42 Km Films)
There’s a moment in Corneliu Porumboiu’s “The Second Game,” which is
screening in New York on Sunday as part of the Making Waves: New Romanian
Cinema program at the Film Society at Lincoln Center, when the director’s father,
with whom his son is having a conversation we’re eavesdropping on, amends a
series a comments he has just made regarding their home country, Romania.
“Anyway, these things are past history now,” he says. “They’re not interesting to
anyone.”
The father’s words provide a laugh for those viewers who are familiar with the
son’s work. Porumboiu’s films, like many of those associated with the Romanian
New Wave, deal with a country struggling through the aftermath of a revolution.
In December 1989, riots and protests erupted in the streets and helped bring
down the regime led by Nicolae Ceaușescu, ending more than four decades of
Communist rule in the country (Andrei Ujică’s documentary “The Autobiography
of Nicolae Ceaușescu” is essential viewing on the topic). Porumboiu’s first feature
film, “12:08 East of Bucharest,” deals with this moment directly — during a local
television broadcast, an alcoholic school teacher and a retired old man, the only
two guests the pompous talk show host can gather for his program, debate what
actually happened on the night Ceaușescu fled his palace.
We never get a straight answer. But Porumboiu’s subsequent films show us the
result, presenting a portrait of a country on the brink of absurdity. “Police,
Adjective” (2009) is a low-key procedural thriller where the main character,
questioning the case he is working on, is forced to sit there while his boss pages
through a dictionary parsing the definitions of words like “conscience” and
“police.” In “When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism” (2013),
Porumboiu turns the camera on himself, in a way, using the surrogate character
of filmmaker as a self-reflexive jab at the narrative and formal conventions of the
work he and his peers are making. The main character waxes poetic about his
film to lure the main actress into bed, only deciding late in the process that what
he’s making is a political film, and Porumboiu constructs the most constraining
aesthetic structure around the action through a series of long, static
compositions. Through its rigorousness the film veers towards farce, and in turn
questions if narrative filmmaking is somehow not the right mode for looking at
the past through the present tense.
Again, no straight answers. But it’s telling that Porumboiu would follow “When
Evening Falls” with “The Second Game,” a quasi-essay film that escapes fiction
altogether while developing around the filmmaker’s most constraining formal
construction yet. What we see on the screen is a 25-year-old soccer game on fuzzy
VHS tape between Steaua and Dinamo, two rival Romanian teams. Over the
game, whose action we can barely follow because of the quality of the footage, is a
conversation between Porumboiu and his father, who we learn was one of the
referees of the game we’re watching. Memories of the match quickly turn to the
truth that is hiding beneath the sporting event — mainly, that Porumbiou’s father
had received death threats before the game, and the two teams we’re watching
represent the Army and Secret Police.
What emerges is a surprisingly watchable allegory, where the blur of videotape
noise and the constant stream of snow falling down on the playing field are a
scrim for the corruption just on the other side of the images. The conversation
between father and son unspools at a glacial pace, often with no words spoken for
what seems like great lengths of time, and you’re left watching and wondering
about the vast amount of people at the game and if they realized, then and now,
that what was happening right in front of their eyes was partly fiction.
Through his detachment from narrative filmmaking, Porumbiou has in some
ways circled back to the beginning. “The Second Game” is as direct a critique of
the state of Romania as “12:08 East of Bucharest.” The filmmaker is saying the
same thing, just finding new ways to communicate it.
http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1065751/what-lies-beneath-corneliuporumboius-the-second-game
Romanian cinema in the USA
by Martin Kudláč
10/11/2014 - The ninth edition of Making Waves, a festival for
Romanian cinema, kicks off on 4 December at New York's Film
Society of Lincoln Center
At the beginning of December, a batch of Romanian films will travel across the
Atlantic to be screened at the Making Waves Film Festival, dedicated to new
Romanian cinema. The gathering introduces the latest crop of Romanian films to
local audiences. “We all know that fashions come and go, especially in this
volatile film world where critics grow tired of certain trends and always look
forward to the next best thing. It's also true that not all the good Romanian films
make it to the big international festivals; that's why I think it's important,
whenever possible, to design and maintain a professional and specific platform
like this Romanian Film Festival in New York, and offer them a chance to be seen
and judged in a broader context,” says artistic director Mihai Chirilov.
“Each edition is really different in composition and ‘design’, although the
categories remain the same: fiction, documentary, shorts, Artist in Focus,
Creative Freedom through Cinema… and this is due to our own wish as a creative
team to give personality to each year’s crop,” explains the festival's
president, Corina Suteu. Giving an insight into this year's edition, Chirilov
reveals, “There's a stronger presence of independent films made with no state
funds, like Corneliu Porumboiu's latest effort, The Second Game[+]; the
provocative documentary Where Are You, Bucharest? by Vlad Petri, which was
presented at Rotterdam this year and centres on Romanian politics; and all seven
short films in the programme.” The Romanian nomination for the Academy
Award for Best Foreign-language Film, Tudor Cristian Jurgiu's examination
of family relationships, The Japanese Dog [+], will be presented alongside a
selection of the best Romanian shorts. The ninth edition of the festival will also
be a chance to look back on the past through cinema, as demonstrated
inValentin Hotea's Roxanne [+], in which the lead character must revisit his
personal history to find out who denounced him to Nicolae Ceausescu's secret
police, and will learn along the way that he could be a father, or in the closing
film, Maya Vitkova's Viktoria [+], a powerful coming-of-age tale.
The festival will also celebrate director Stere Gulea's 40-year career. In addition
to his latest film, the nostalgic comedy I Am an Old Communist Hag [+], starring
the dame of the Romanian New Wave, Luminița Gheorghiu, FoxHunter, State of Things and The Journeywill all be screened in Gulea's honour.
Besides the main programme, the organisers have also included a special sidebar
focusing on the relationship between art and politics in Eastern Europe, entitled
“Creative Freedom through Cinema”; in this year's edition, the section will deal
with LGBTQ rights in Russia by screening Pavel Loparev and Askold
Kurov's Children 404, and Sergei Taramajev and Liubov Lvova's Winter
Journey. The festival runs from 4-8 December at the Film Society of Lincoln
Center in New York, and then from 5-10 December at the Jacob Burns Film
Center in Pleasantville.
http://cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=280664
Preview: Making Waves Festival Will Be
Splashing New Romanian Cinema in New York
Martin Kudlac
A little bit of Bucharest will soon rise at New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center
where the Making Waves festival is going to hold its 9th edition. The latest crop of
Romanian films kicks off December 4. U.S. audiences will have chance to catch the
Romanian nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign-language Film,
Tudor Cristian Jurgiu's contemplation upon family relationships, The Japanese
Dog or Valentin Hotea´s Roxanne taking place twenty years after the Romanian
revolution with central character Tavi Ionescu feeling a sudden bitterness over an
old incident when somebody ratted on him to the Secret Police. The original
catalyst comes in the form of a home inspection and interrogations for Tavi when
an innocent letter to the radio Free Europe about playing Roxanne by The Police
for his then sweetheart. Tavi finds out that he might be a father to a now almost
adult son. Once again, the film puts on the skin of a decent comedy, but deals with
the backlash from "those times", and the consequences which persist even after
the fall of the regime.
Another nostalgic comedy will be delivered by nobody else but the dame of the
New Romanian Wave Luminita Gheorgiu starring as Emilia in I´m an Old
Communist Hag directed by Stere Gulea. After capitalism and its consequences
have nested sufficiently, a wave of nostalgia has hit older generations. The film
names the common phenoms in Eastern countries that used to be part of the
Soviet Union, resulting from an unflattering economical situation which is slyly
embedded in the script. Emilia´s daughter comes on a visit from the U.S., as life
should be financially easier there compared to Romania. However, the contrary is
the case and parents remembering the bygone era of Ceausescu´s regime are
determined to help their daughter and soon to be son-in-law despite jeopardizing
their own modest living standards.
The closing film Viktoria by Bulgarian director Maya Vitkova will have its
premiere that night. Mesmerizing art direction brings to life three decades of life
under the rule of communism rushing towards an abrupt end. Vitkova proves to
be a mature filmmaker defined by a singular screenplay defined by thoughtprovoking details and motifs. The director chooses the point of view of the
avowedly damaged wife, Boryana, who wishes to prevent pregnancy by any means
necessary, several of them violent in the masochistic form. Her zealous struggle to
annihilate any possibility of new life in her womb reaches shocking heights. If
Vitkova aimed to subvert the archetype of mother, she has succeeded on many
levels. The screenplay deserves further applause for handling such various and
diverse motifs and allusions while tying them gracefully into a functional
multilayered story. The antithesis of motherhood draws parallels to the
Communist regime well. The director even uses archive footage to make the
experience more vivid.
Other films on the menu comprise Quod Erat Demonstrandum reflecting
upon the days of Communism when a mathematician's decision to publish a paper
in American magazine without permission from the authorities launches a series
of events changing not only his life, Romanian short films and amongst other also
Corneliu Porumboiu´s The Second Game, an unconventional and compelling
documentary over a banal set-up, Porumboiu and his father watching an old
football game and commenting grainy 1988´s match.
Twitch has managed to pose couple of questions to festival´s president Corina
Suteau and artistic director Mihai Chirilov to find out more about Making Waves.
Could you briefly summarize previous edition of Making Waves?
Corina Suteu: There are two films that were presented last year on which one can
comment upon. First, Nae Caranfil's Closer to the Moon, a film inspired by a
true and very dramatic story of the most spectacular bank theft during early
Communism in Romania, with protagonists being prosecuted and shot after
having been promised to get a pardon if they accept to reconstruct the story of the
theft on film. A propaganda film, this was. The film was spoken directly in English
with Anglo-American cast, Mark Strong and Vera Farmiga among others in
leading roles. This was a completely unusual "Romanian film". Hence, the mixed
reactions from the audience: most Romanian viewers reacted as in shock and had
a problem to accept it is a Romanian story told in an American way, while the
American ones took it very naturally and liked the film. The film revealed the
number of cultural clashes one can detect between the European and American
audiences, but also revealed how much one is still dependent on 'expectation'
rather than experiment when engaging in an artistic experience as a spectator. The
second film Child's Pose by Calin Peter Netzer, winner of the Golden Bear in
Berlin, was an expected box-office success, as the film depicted the complicated
relationship between an over possessive mother and her son and the moral crisis
of a corrupt and dysfunctional socio-political system in nowadays Romania. What
was to be noted is that the interpretation of the story was very different on the side
of the Romanian spectators who were more sensitive to the human aspect as
compared to the foreign audiences who were appalled by the unethical outcome of
the drama. Both films show that there is now a bigger diversity in scope and style
of the Romanian cinema.
Mihai Chirilov: Talking about this growing variety of the recent Romanian films,
it's also worth mentioning the enthusiastic response to the low-budget
independent comedy Love Building. The New Romanian cinema is not usually
associated with this type of cinema, light and entertaining - with its undeniable
charm and original story setting, Love Building filled a void and proved more than
welcome by an audience that sometimes complains about getting alienated by the
dark, depressing, gritty shades of the Romanian social realistic cinema. Equally
charming was the trip down memory lane stirred by the screening of the so-called
Transylvanians' trilogy, a cult series of red westerns made in the 80s under the
Communism as disguised propaganda, where Romania was posing as America
(where the action takes place) and Romanian actors speaking English and playing
American characters. To Romanians, it was nostalgia-fuelling; to Americans, it
was a camp, yet mind-blowing discovery.
Why do you think Romanian films should travel?
Corina Suteu: All works of art should travel as broadly as possible, but Romanian
films (those which ARE works of art) remain very much in touch with the auctorial
'voice' and this gives them a special and unique flavour of speaking universally
about profoundly individual, intimate, human problems. "Think local act global "
in this artistic way is very efficient and very valuable.
Mihai Chirilov: Good films should travel by default - and the Romanian cinema
managed to produce constantly films worth being selected and awarded in
international festivals, even now, ten years after the big break with The Death of
Mr. Lazarescu. We all know that fashions come and go, especially in this volatile
film world where critics grow tired about certain trends and always look forward
to the next best thing. It's also true that not all the good Romanian films go big in
international festivals (call it geopolitics or whatever) - that's why I think it's
important, whenever possible, to design and maintain a professional and specific
platform like this Romanian film festival in New York and offer them a chance to
be seen and judged in a broader context. The simple fact that there were and are
hundreds of people who are supporting through donations the continuation of this
private event speaks volume about their willingness to keep up-to-date with what's
new and great in Romanian cinema every year. And then there's one more thing:
given this spectacular rebirth of the new Romanian cinema, classic films and
authors from the past that were programmed at our previous editions were given a
chance to be discovered or rediscovered - like it was the case with Lucian Pintilie,
the most important Romanian film director ever, whose film screenings at Making
Waves festival prompted MoMA to organize a full retrospective of his work and
thus make justice to this remarkable filmmaker, otherwise virtually unknown in
the States.
What would be the main difference compared to the last edition?
Corina Suteu: Each edition is really different in composition and 'design', although
the categories remain the same: fiction, documentary, shorts, artist in focus,
creative freedom through cinema... and this is due to our own wish as a creative
team to give personality to each year's crop. But a major difference still can be
identified. Now we know that we can.
Mihai Chirilov: It is actually the first edition after the festival became a 100%
private enterprise (back in 2012) that's supported by Romanian state institutions,
namely the Filmmakers' Union and The National Film Center. The latter denied
any financial support at our previous two editions, despite the festival's
recognition and appreciation in New York. It's a smaller edition in scope,
reflecting a difficult year in Romania, with less films made given some shady
politics that affected the annual funds provided for cinema - but the highlights are
there, particularly The Japanese Dog (that opened in San Sebastian and played
several European festivals before being shown in New York, at New
Directors/New Films showcase this April, along with one of the big winners in
Rome last year, Quod Erat Demonstrandum. More, there's a stronger
presence of independent films made with no funds from the state, like the new
essay by Corneliu Porumboiu, The Second Game, the provocative
documentary Where Are You, Bucharest? by Vlad Petri that opened in
Rotterdam this year, charting the messy Romanian politics, and all the seven short
films in the program. What's more is that the closing gala is offered to the
Bulgarian film Viktoria by Maya Vitkova. This highly original work about
Communism doesn't qualify as "Romanian" in any way, except for a little coproducing credit with Cristi Puiu's Mandragora - but given the common
Communist past that both neighbouring countries share, the film feels Romanian
in absolutely any way. Last but not least, the most anticipated event at this year's
edition is the recurrent special program called Creative Freedom Through Cinema,
charting the relation between art and politics. Having Russia as guest country
(through two daring recent productions: Children 404 and Winter Journey),
the gay and lesbian rights as topic for debate and famous writer Andrew Solomon
attending the panel conversation after the screenings, this year's Making Waves is
bound to make a major difference.
Making Waves runs from 4-8 December at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in
New York, and then from 5-10 December at the Jacob Burns Film Center in
Pleasantville.
November 29, 4:00 pm
http://twitchfilm.com/2014/11/making-waves-festival-will-be-splashing-newromanian-cinema-in-new-york.html
Journeys and Barricades
December 1, 2014
BY GARY M. KRAMER
| “Creative Freedom through
Cinema,” a sidebar to the new
Romanian film series at
Lincoln Center, features two
queer offerings — one fiction,
one documentary — about
LGBT life in Russia made in
that county. The screenings, on
the afternoon of December 6,
are followed at 5 p.m. by a
panel discussion comparing
gay rights in Russia, Romania, Evgeniy Tkachuk in Liubov Lvova and Sergei Taramajev’s
and the US, featuring writer
“Winter Journey.” | FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Andrew Solomon.
The feature film, “Winter Journey,” written and directed by Liubov Lvova and
Sergei Taramajev and screening at 1:30 p.m., takes its title from a composition by
Schubert. Eric (Aleksei Frandetti) is a gay opera singer preparing for an important
audition. He first encounters Lyoha (Evgeniy Tkachuk) on a bus one day when the
other man starts a fight and takes his phone. The film follows both men separately
after this initial encounter.
Eric, taught discipline by his singing instructor, is uptight and gets drunk to
counter his anxiety. The reckless Lyoha ekes out a life on the streets by stealing a
car radio, food, and a dog. Lyoha reconnects with Eric at a wild birthday party Eric
attends with some gay friends. Lyoha realizes that Eric has access to money and
may offer him an escape from his financial troubles. The fact that Eric is smitten
with Lyoha helps the bad boy exploit his new friend.
Romanian film festival pauses to feature Russian films on LGBT life, rights
under Putin
“Winter Journey” is an intriguing character study, even if the storyline is
unsurprising. The filmmakers take their time getting the two main characters
together, but once they do the film becomes more absorbing, even intense. Eric is
completely taken with the handsome, seductive Lyoha, despite the petty criminal’s
unsavory side. An episode involving the guys high and dancing at a nightclub is a
particularly stylish sequence, providing a nice contrast to the chilliness and
atmospheric realism of the rest of the film.
Tkachuk, magnetic in making an unlikeable character attractive, conjures the
impish nature of a young Malcolm McDowell. As Eric, Frandetti commendably
captures his character’s longing for the dangerous Lyoha. “Winter Journey” is a
compelling portrait of contemporary queer life in Russia.
“Children 404,” which screens
at 3:30, is an important
documentary about LGBT youth.
Directed by Pavel Loparev and
Askold Kurov, the film is
fascinating, maddening, and
inspiring as it shows the trials
and tribulations facing queer
teens in Russia today.
In response to the 2013 law that
forbids “propaganda of
Pasha Romanov and an anonymous LGBT youth in Pavel
Loparev and Askold Kurov’s “Children 404.” |
FILM INITIATIVE/ COURTESY: CINEMA POLITICA
non-traditional sexual relationships to minors,” Elena Klimova founded a social
network website, Children 404, to encourage LGBT youth to come out, tell their
stories, and find support. Each contributor is asked to include their photo, with
their eyes or face covered with the familiar Internet message “404 error — page
not found,” a way of emphasizing their “invisibility in society.”
The film narrates 45 “anonymous” stories (only a few of the subjects are
identified) that show the range of queer youth experiences in Russia. Some kids
describe being bullied and harassed at school. One explains that the “propaganda
law” means he could be fined for just going to school. While several talk about
being called names and beaten up, one teen says she is forced to change for gym
class in the toilet, having been banished from the locker room. Their stories meld
together in the voice-over, emphasizing the secrecy most of them must maintain.
On the positive side, some teens embrace their sexual identity. One asserts, “I am
homosexual. I am normal,” and others discuss becoming aware of their sexuality
and accepting it. Some interviewees, who dare to appear on camera, talk about
wanting to find a boyfriend and share a “normal” life. One teen, Pasha, even talks
about eventually wanting kids, an aspiration that elicits particularly strong
backlash from ultra-conservative Russians. Pasha is planning to move to Canada
and study journalism.
Sadly, other interview subjects
are self-hating, troubled in
coming to terms with their
sexual identity in a country
where it is illegal. They wonder,
“How do you accept who you
are?” A few talk about suicide.
Their despair makes evident
exactly why a safe space like
Children 404 is so needed in
Russia.
Pasha Romanov in Pavel Loparev and Askold Kurov’s “Children 404.” |
FILM INITIATIVE/ COURTESY: CINEMA POLITICA
One woman in the film insists parents should be educated about how to love their
LGBT kids. When Pasha is seen being cared for by his loving, accepting mother, it
offers a hopeful example.
The drama in “Children 404” reaches a peak when Pasha holds up a poster about
gay rights in a Moscow square. He and a man harassing him about his poster are
both quickly taken into police custody. This moment of activism is the film’s most
resonant moment, making concrete Klimova’s assertion that “Sitting quietly does
not equal security.”
“Children 404” provides critical insight into how LGBT youth cope with the
oppressive burdens they face in Russia and cannot help but engender profound
empathy among its viewers.
CREATIVE FREEDOM THROUGH CINEMA: Making Waves: New
Romanian Cinema 2014 | Film Center of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade
Theater | 165 W. 65th St. | Dec. 4-8 | Each screening, $14.50; filmlinc.com
http://gaycitynews.nyc/journeys-barricades/
rogerebert.com
Roger Ebert has attended international film festivals and events for almost half a
century, from the Kolkata International Film Festival to the Academy Awards. In
addition to his coverage, our contributors report the latest from Cannes, Telluride,
Toronto, Sundance and other movie showcases world-wide.
"MAKING WAVES: NEW ROMANIAN
CINEMA" LAUNCHES AT THE FILM SOCIETY
by Brian Tallerico | December 2, 2014
This Thursday, December 4, 2014, the 9th edition of a unique, fascinating film
program begins at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York (with a program
selection also playing at the Burns Film Center starting Friday, December 5). The
New York Times named "Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema" an "annual
treasure," as the selection offers a diverse array of the best of contemporary
Romanian filmmaking, including features, docs, shorts, panels and special
programs.
Highlights of this year's program include the latest from Corneliu Porumboiu,
director of "Police, Adjective" and "12:08 East of Bucharest," two of the most
important films of the current Romanian New Wave. His latest, "The Second
Game," is described as a "reflection on a relationship with the past." Other
highlights include Andrei Gruzsnicki's "Quod Erat Demonstradum," Stere Gulea's
"I'm an Old Communist Hag," Valentin Hotea's "Roxanne," Maya Vitkova's
"Viktoria" and Cristian Jurgiu's "The Japanese Dog," the Romanian selection for
the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of 2014.
Mihai Chirilov, the festival's artistic director, said in a statement: "The vibe of this
year’s showcase of contemporary Romanian cinema is perhaps best captured by
Faulkner’s famous words ‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’ Twenty-five
years have passed since the fall of Communism, but for most of the films in this
program—from Quod Erat Demonstrandum to I’m an Old Communist Hag to
Viktoria to Roxanne—the past is still an unfinished business, and proof that
Romania’s recent history has left an indelible mark on our collective consciousness.
When not addressing history, Romanian films embrace the present and attempt to
break free from a haunting past, begging the question: can it really be left behind?
The ninth edition of Making Waves offers some possible answers."
Head to the official site for film times and to get your tickets.
http://www.rogerebert.com/festivals-and-awards/making-waves-new-romaniancinema-launches-at-the-film-society
Films Not to Miss at Making Waves: New
Romanian Films
Last updated: 12/03/2014
The Film Society of Lincoln Center will present Making Waves: New Romanian
Films from December 4-8. As in years past, their selection includes works from
some of the most exciting Romanian filmmakers like Tudor Cristian Jurgiu and
Stere Gulea - both of whom will be at the festival doing Q&As - with the latter's
1987 epic The Journey being screened on December 7 with an introduction by the
director. This year's theme might be defined as an exploration of the passage of
time and Romania's relation to the rest of the world, since many of the films
feature stories and characters trying to break free from the past that shaped them,
but can no longer affect them. In a rich selection that includes short films and
documentaries, the following are essential viewing:
The Japanese Dog - Dir. Tudor Cristian Jurgiu This year's official
submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is the low-key
tale of Costache (Victor Rebengiuc) an elderly man who reconnects with his son
Ticu (Serban Pavlu) who left their small village years before to move to Japan.
Father and son are at odd with what they want out of life, and how they think the
other should be living. Jurgiu's melancholy observations about the deceitful
peacefulness of rural life makes for an exemplary work in meditative filmmaking,
while Rebengiuc's performance is a heartbreaking little miracle that reminds
audiences why he is regarded as the most important actor of his generation.
I’m an Old Communist Hag - Dir. Stere Gulea In contrast to her chilling
performance as the overprotective mother in Child's Pose, Luminita Gheorgiu's
Emilia in I'm an Old Communist Hag is a treasure chest of warmth and affection.
Emilia is a former Communist Party member who seems to miss the "good old
days" when at least she knew what to expect from her country. While the title
might make it sound political, the film is in fact a crowd-pleasing comedy which
moves along like something out of Frank Capra or Leo McCarey. Gheorghiu is
phenomenal, her chemistry and witty exchanges with onscreen husband Marian
Ralea being some of the most pleasurable put onscreen in recent years.
Second Game - Dir. Corneliu Porumboiu Taking the notion of "commentary"
to a new level or artistry, Corneliu Porumboiu's film presents us with the grainy,
and snowy, footage of a 1988 soccer game which was refereed by his father Adrian
Porumboiu, and the film consists of them talking over what they're watching. What
promises to be a charming father and son bonding story (which makes for a rather
fascinating double bill with The Japanese Dog) proves to be much more than that,
as the Porumboiu men talk about the politics that went behind bringing the match
to life. One wouldn't expect something as voyeuristic and experimental as this to be
so engaging, but to say the result is surprisingly brilliant would be an
understatement.
Where Are You, Bucharest? - Dir. Vlad Petri Following the footsteps of
nonfiction films which have attempted to capture the spirit of recent social
uprisings, Where Are You, Bucharest? chronicles the protests that erupted in
Bucharest in 201, where people from all walks of life took the streets to demand a
better life, the specific concept of which was sadly never clear to anyone. Following
his subjects for well over a year, director Petri crafts a compelling look at the way in
which people bond over collective desire for change. At times the aimlessness of
the subjects' purpose is enough to break your heart, but Petri makes it obvious that
once they're organized they will be a force to be reckoned with.
Making Waves: New Romanian Films December 4-8 at The Film Society
of Lincoln Center. For tickets and more click here.
http://stagebuddy.com/film-tv/films-not-to-miss-at-making-waves-newromanian-films
Making Waves: The Japanese Dog Review
BY JACQUELINE VALENCIA ON DECEMBER 3, 2014
The Japanese Dog (2013)
Cast: Victor Rebengiuc, Serban Pavlu, Ioana Abur Director: Tudor Cristian
Jurgiu Country: Romania Genre: Drama
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for the Film
Society of Lincoln Center’s Making Waves Romanian Film Festival, which runs
from December 4 to December 8. For more information visit FilmLinc.com and
follow FilmLinc on Twitter at @FilmLinc.
In the summer of 2010 a great flood devastated Romania’s north-east. At least
twenty-one people died and many were displaced from their homes. Tudor Cristian
Jurgiu sets his debut feature The Japanese Dog in the aftermath of the floods.
Costache (Victor Rebengiuc) is an elderly gentleman who lost his wife and his
home in the devastation. He goes about his daily errands and tasks while trying to
make a new home in the house he’s been given. Throughout his day, he interacts
with few friends, most of them informing him that Tico (Serban Pavlu), his
estranged son is coming to visit him. Costache shrugs and dismisses this, not
believing the rumors. He does eventually show up with his Japanese wife (Kana
Hashimoto) and son (Toma Hashimoto) in tow. The film observes the intricacies
and the complexities of family through the strained relationships of father and son
and the connections made between grandfather and grandson.
The stilted relationship between Tico and Costache is acutely
felt…This is beautifully created by the same meditative lens, standing
at attention, letting the viewer take in the view and the sound of the
actor’s silence.
The film is a slow paced work, a signature cinema vérité style in Romanian film.
Life moves slowly in rural towns and thus the camera follows suit. Lingering long
shots of the Romanian landscape at various stages of the day express a warm
familiarity of country and a traditional way of life. While most of it is filmed
outside, moments inside homes are naturally lit and can be dark at times, but it’s
how life is by candle light or little to no electricity. Homes are cluttered and dusty
and thus the films settings are as well.
Rebengiuc plays Costache as a stoic
old man who’s exasperated with
everything and everyone he has to
deal with, but does it anyway. As the
town bombards him with news of
Tico’s visit, he quickly gets angry,
letting his discomfort show in his
face and mannerisms. Even as his
son arrives, the looks Revengiuc
gives him are distant and cynical. It’s
a treat to see him light up as he
warms up to his grandson despite
their cultural differences. The stilted
relationship between Tico and
Costache is acutely felt and
Costache’s grief is palpable. This is
beautifully created by the same
meditative lens, standing at attention, letting the viewer take in the view and the
sound of the actor’s silence. They’re gorgeous shots that make up for most of the
film’s quiet tortoise-like speed. One particular scene takes place in a the lush
greenery that surrounds Costache’s home. Costache and his grandson are outside
trying to get to know each other when the boy shows his grandfather a robotic toy
dog. The sun shines bright, revealing Costache’s fascination with the boy and his
wonder at the exposure of this very high tech toy. It’s a tender moment made more
so by the setting and a still lens.
You wouldn’t know this was Jurgiu’s first feature considering he’s worked only in
short film before The Japanese Dog. However, in some ways, the power of this film
is in its attention to the continual mediocrity of life even in the face of drastic
change and struggle.
7.0 GOOD
While the film moves at a syrupy pace, it eventually shapes into a
charming tale of relatable familial struggles and possible reconnections
in redemption.
http://nextprojection.com/2014/12/03/tiff-romania-japanese-dog-review/
Making Waves: Children 404 Review
BY JACQUELINE VALENCIA ON DECEMBER 8, 2014
Children 404 (2014)
Director: Askold Kurov, Pavel
Loparev Country: Russia Genre: Documentary Official Trailer: Here
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for the Film
Society of Lincoln Center’s Making Waves Romanian Film Festival, which runs
from December 4 to December 8. For more information visit FilmLinc.com and
follow FilmLinc on Twitter at @FilmLinc.
In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a bill prohibiting the “promotion
of nontraditional sexual relations to minors.” Under this law, LGBT youth are
considered evil, sick, and an abomination. They face constant homophobic slurs
and intimidation that is entrenched and licensed in modern Russian society. Elena
Klimova, a Russian journalist, started the Children 404 project as a response to
this law. LGBT children send in their photos with the number 404 masking their
identities. The number “404” refers to the internet’s “error – page not found”
page,” and it symbolizes the Russian government’s erasure of its LGBT youth. This
documentary attempts to give these repressed and silenced kids, a voice.
Filmmakers Kurov and Loparev interviewed forty-five teens in schools, the street,
and their homes for their film Children 404. Some appear anonymously, brave in
imparting their stories, revealing a battle they must fight from all sides: society,
schoolmates, their own families, and sometimes, even their own friends. A few
others courageously show themselves on camera. As they follow a handful of them
throughout their day, we see them being insulted, berated, and at times, physically
threatened. It seems the only thing stopping possible assaults are the filmmakers’
cameras.
Kurov and Loparev have unabashedly created an honest and
important work here exposing the atrocious way the Russian
government undermines its citizens.
Pasha is a teen who decides to leave
Russia to find a more tolerant life in
Canada. As we watch him go to school,
bullies confront him, calling him
names as he silently goes about his
business. To think that this young man
has had to deal with that every day, but
he takes it. Since his decision to leave
his homeland (his family is refreshingly
accepting of him), he takes on a devilmay-care attitude, growing his hair
against the grain of his generally
conservative schoolmates. He doesn’t
hide himself, knowing full well that
he’ll be leaving all that hate behind
him. One particularly touching scene
finds Pasha at the Lenin Memorial singing a paraphrased version of “O Canada”
loud and proud as bewildered folk pass by him. Another horrifying scene has him
in the city square holding up a poster endorsing tolerance as people yell invectives
or directly spit on him for speaking his peace. Every moment he’s outside, the
quotidian threat to his wellbeing is palpably felt. That’s how it feels to view it,
imagine living with that around you every second.
Another group of kids, rejected by their parents, meets and takes shelter with a
woman in the country. She helps them because she says it’s better than suicide for
these kids. She wonders how parents could ever want their children dead or
maimed by suicide rather than accept them and still have them by their side. As the
young lovers settle in for the night, they snapchat like many teenagers nowadays
knowing full well that must face a society that doesn’t accept them for who they
are.
Kurov and Loparev have unabashedly created an honest and important work here
exposing the atrocious way the Russian government undermines its citizens.
Through this antediluvian law, Putin sanctions bullying of his own citizens and
endorses a direct danger to the most vulnerable of his country’s children. While
Elena Klimova stays to fight for the right to love whom she choses, Pasha, and
many others like him, must find a way to exist without their families, by leaving the
homes they love.
The directors don’t interfere with their subjects, allowing the children to speak
their minds and sometimes even letting very real dangers play out. One often hears
about Vladimir Putin’s injustices, but Children 404 exposes them, baring a truth
that cannot be ignored any longer.
http://nextprojection.com/2014/12/08/making-waves-children-404review/
j.b. spins
sunday, december 07, 2014
New Romanian Cinema ’14: I’m an Old
Communist Hag
Emilia was allowed to shake Ceauşescu’s hand
because she was a Party member, who didn’t
have sweaty palms. For a while, that encounter
gave her great prestige in her state-run factory,
but she tried to avoid discussing it after the
revolution. Nonetheless, her nostalgia for the
past is rather well known in Stere Gulea’s I’m
an Old Communist Hag (trailer here), which
screens during Making Waves: New Romanian
Cinema 2014.
She was once an industrial foreman, but now
Emilia and her husband Ţucu make do on their
pensions and a bit of bartering-up. If you ask
her, she will tell you the old dictator did a better
job managing the economy. At least, that is how
she remembers it. However, her memory is selective and she may have only
noticed what she wanted to back in the day. She will slowly and only partially
come to realize this when she visits Madame Stroescu to have a dress made for
her expat daughter Alice’s sudden visit.
Madame Stroescu was always a favorite of Alice’s, but Emilia never realized how
much the gentle woman suffered under Communism. She should have been an
accomplished artist, but she was forced to work as a seamstress instead. With her
eyesight now failing, even such work is beyond her, but she still hopes to have her
late father’s confiscated tailor shop restituted to her. It is an inconvenient episode
for Emilia to process, especially with the 2010 financial crisis swirling around
her. In fact, that is why Alice and her American husband Alan have suddenly
arrived. Both have been let go by their multinational employer and now find
themselves at loose ends.
Despite its hot-button title, Hag is a restrained film that eschews all ideologies in
favor of human relationships. Emilia is not a bad person. She just happened to do
somewhat better than her neighbors during the old regime and is now
experiencing a bit of a rough patch due to the new more cyclical system.
Nevertheless, Valeria Seciu’s haunted Stroescu unambiguously serves as the
film’s conscious and moral corrective. It is a quiet but powerful performance that
undercuts Emilia’s romanticized memories.
While it is a more restrained and
forgiving role than her celebrated
turn in Child’s Pose, Luminita
Gheorghiu still commands the
screen as Emilia, embracing her
complications. Ana Ularu
counterbalances her well as Alice,
the daughter who sees the past era
in its full historical context, but
struggles with her own personal and
professional failings. Texan Collin
Blair’s Alan resembles a young
Michael Rapaport, which works rather well in context. There are probably a
dozen additional supporting players playing former colleagues and family
members, who are quite colorful, but feeling unfailingly real. Still, it is Gheorghiu
and Seciu who really define the film with their contrasting presences.
Gulea was a rather bold critic of the Communist regime in past films, so Hag
should not be dismissed as revisionism, but more of a meditation on how folks
get by, regardless of the times. It is a nice film, elevated by several thoughtful
performances and a lively yet elegiac score composed by Vasilé Sirli.
Recommended for those interested in seeing a different side of Romanian
cinema, I’m an Old Communist Hag screens this afternoon (12/7) at the Walter
Reade Theater and tomorrow (12/8) in Long Island at the Jacob Burns Film
Center, as part of Making Wave: New Romanian Cinema.
posted by J.B. @ 3:00 AM
friday, december 05, 2014
New Romanian Cinema ’14: Where Are You
Bucharest?
Twice voter apathy has saved Romanian President Traian
Băsescu’s bacon. Each time he was impeached by
parliament, it required the ratification of a majority of all
eligible voters through a national referendum. While
overwhelming majorities voted to give him the boot, they
fell short of the legal threshold. Consequently, many
Romanians are a tad disenchanted with the current
political scene. Vlad Petri captures a vérité kaleidoscope of
frustration at a series of 2012 protests in Where Are You
Bucharest? (trailer here), which screens during Making
Waves: New Romanian Cinema 2014.
Viewers immediately get the sense the anti- Băsescu protests are way more
personal than ideological, even though they take place in University Square, the
storied site of many 1989 demonstrations against Ceauşescu’s Communist
regime. After all, if you do not like Băsescu’s ideology, just wait a minute and it
will change. After initially styling himself in the manner of a Scandinavian social
democrat, Băsescu has evolved into Romania’s Silvio Berlusconi, without the
gleeful disregard for decorum. Indeed, Băsescu’s shadow hangs over Where in
more ways than one.
Arguably, Petri’s film could be used to make the case Romania has become a
mature democracy that tolerates dissent. Even though there is quite a bit of finger
pointing directed at the police, the film never documents any seriously
problematic actions, especially compared to the crackdown on the Umbrella
demonstrators in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district. Frankly, most of the cops here
look like they would much prefer to be anywhere else but University Square.
In a case of good news-bad news, the absence of any major human rights abuses
means Where is mostly just a lot of people yelling at each other, which gets old
after a while. We totally get everyone thinks Băsescu is a corrupt jerkweed, but
there isn’t any “then what?” It’s just more chanting and arguing over trivial
differences.
Băsescu may very well be a ragingly
problematic president, but on paper he is
considerably more interesting than the
demonstrators demanding his head. In the
2004 presidential debate, he totally threw his
opponent off stride with the rhetorical
bombshell: “You know what Romania's
greatest curse is right now? It’s that
Romanians have to choose between two former Communist Party members.”
That’s a real conversation ender.
You can tell just from a little peak that Romanian politics is a fascinating, roughand-tumble world. However, we’re already dealing with a glut of Arab Spring
protest docs, where the stakes are even higher. Petri talks with many pleasantly
eccentric protestors, who actually make Romania look like an infinitely more
inviting country to visit, but as cinema it overstays its welcome. Where is
certainly earnest and well-intentioned, but Andrei Gruzsniczki’s Quod Erat
Demandstrandum and Maya Vitkova’s Viktoria are the can’t-miss films at this
year’s festival. For those looking for a protest fix nonetheless, Where Are You
Bucharest? screens this Saturday (12/6) and Monday (12/8) at the Walter Reade
Theater, as part of Making Wave: New Romanian Cinema.
posted by J.B. @ 3:00 AM
http://jbspins.blogspot.ro/search/label/New%20Romanian%20Cinema%20%27
14
UNSEEN FILMS
A COLLECTION OF REVIEWS OF FILMS FROM OFF THE BEATEN PATH; A TRAVEL
GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE CINEMATIC WORLD & WANT MORE THAN THE
MAINSTREAM RELEASES
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014
Making Waves New Romanian Cinema 2014:
VIKTORIA, QUOD ERAT DEMONSTRADUM, I
AM A COMMUNIST HAG,WHERE ARE YOU
BUCHAREST, CHILDREN 404
The annual look at Romanian Cinema is taking place at Lincoln Center (it started
last night). I'm going to chime in with a capsule reviews of several of the films
playing the series.
I know I normally do longer reviews but when I sat down to watch the films I
found that I got lost in the films and didn't take that many notes. That's a rave for
the selections since I lose myself it means the movies are damn good.
VIKTORIA (2014)
Viktoria is born without a belly button.
This makes her some sort of miracle baby
and delivered into a life of luxury. However
when the Communist regime falls
Viktoria's life is changed as she must now
navigate life life differently.
Brooding moody film is beautifully made,
wonderfully acted and to be perfectly
honest not my cup of tea. For me
VIKTORIA has a great first half and then
it loses itself in the second. It wouldn't be
bad but the film runs an hour too long.
If you are a fan of Romanian films this is a
must see, if not you may want to step away.
The film screens Monday the 8th as the
closing film of MAKING WAVES. For more
information and tickets go here.
QUOD ERAT DEMONSTRADUM (2013)
Mathematics professor is placed under scrutiny when he publishes a paper in the
west with out proper authorization. This turns his life upside down since there is
nothing in the paper of any real use to anyone.
Moody black and white drama about life under the Communist regime is
definitely worth a look, A weird trip into the double think existence that would be
gone five years later. Its film like this that make me keep going back and trying
Romanian cinema.
This film plays tonight at 830. For tickets and more information go here
I AM A COMMUNIST HAG (2014)
Bittersweet and frequently charming look at a 60ish woman with a nostalgia for
the old Communist days who has her world shaken by a film crew asking her to
participate in a documentary on said old days and the return of her daughter
from America with her fiance in tow.
I really liked this film a great deal with it's great characters, sense of life and
pondering of the old vs the new. Probably my favorite of the series and a must
see.
The film plays tonight at 6 and on Sunday. For tickets and more information go
here.
WHERE ARE YOU BUCHAREST? (2014)
A look at the protests that srpung up in 2012 when the people of Romania got
pissed off with their president and decided to speak out. Director Vlad Petri
follows the demonstrations for a year as the unrest grows and referendum for
Impeachment is voted upon.
Excellent documentary walks the fine line from giving us a been there and done
that on the street approach (how many films about public unrest have their
been?) and giving us some truly wonderful food for thought. Listening in on the
various factions expressing themselves is marvelous especially when you consider
that the country had only gone through even more massive upheavals within
living memory. Nostalgia for what was clashes with dreams for a better
tomorrow and the harsh realities of today.
One of the better political documentaries of recent vintage and a must see.
The film plays tomorrow and Monday. For tickets and more information go here.
CHILDREN 404(2014)
Running as a small side bar called Creative Freedom Through Cinema which is
looking at LGBTQ issues in Eastern Europe CHILDREN 404 is a look life in
Russian under Putin's anti-gay propaganda laws. 45 Russian teens share their
stories
I don't know what to say other than the film is a deeply moving and that you
should go see it and get pissed off. I'd say more but ranting about how big a dick
Putin is and the damage he's doing is not film criticism and serves no purpose.
Go see the film and get active.
The film plays tomorrow. For more information and tickets go here.
POSTED BY STEVE KOPIAN AT 3:30 AM
http://unseenfilms.blogspot.com/2014/12/making-waves-new-romaniancinema-2014.html
Actress Ana Ularu Goes Home to Romania with
‘I’m an Old Communist Hag’
Posted by Brian Brooks on December 03, 2014
in Making Waves • Interviews
Ana Ulara (middle) with I'm an Old Communist Hag co-stars Luminita Gheorghiu and Marian
Ralea.
Romanian actress Ana Ularu was too young to experience much of her home
country's communist era. Born in 1985 in the country's capital Bucharest, Ularu has
spent much of her professional career both at home and abroad starring in films
such as Outbound (2010), A Very Unsettled Summer (2013), as well as TV's The
Borgias. In Stere Gulea's I'm an Old Communist Hag, she plays Alice, a Romanian
expat who returns home to visit her parents with her American fiancé.
Their happy reunion quickly becomes complicated, with the generation gap widened
by cultural disparities. Her 60-year-old mother Emilia (played by The Death of Mr.
Lazarescu actress Luminita Gheorghiu), who is famous in the neighborhood for her
communist nostalgia, is asked to participate in the production of a documentary
chronicling festivities organized by the communist regime. While Alice and Alan
appear to have life in the prosperous West going their way, Emilia begins to sense
there's something amiss.
I'm an Old Communist Hag screens this Friday as part of the Film Society's
upcoming Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema series taking place December 48. FilmLinc Daily spoke with Ularu about the generation gap that is still prevalent in
Romania—something she has learned more about while making the film and
working with Stere Gulea, Luminita Gheorghiu, and Marian Ralea, who plays her
father. The actress, who was a "Shooting Star," an annual group of up-and-coming
actors spotlighted at the Berlin International Film Festival, talks about her
upcoming roles, which includes turns with American stars.
FilmLinc: What lead you to I’m an Old Communist Hag?
Ana Ularu: I hadn’t read the script before I went in to audition, but the director
Stere Gulea is a huge legend in Romania. He also directed one of my favorite
Romanian films: The Moromete Family, an adaptation of a great Romanian novel
that also starts Luminita Gheorghiu. It was a great honor to audition for him. I got
the part and was really interested in the conflict between Romanian generations. It
was a great relationship to explore.
FL: I thought there would be a generational gab between people who lived
primarily in the Communist era versus post Ceaușescu. Has there been any of that
similar disconnect in your family?
AU: No, I didn’t experience that generational gap, as my parents were artists who
both worked in theater, and film so for them the transition was very smooth. This
period was the thing they had looked forward to forever. They had their subversive
undertones. They were and are still very young in spirit. With the family in the film,
however, and many others in Romania, especially whose children go abroad, this
gap does happen. It was very interesting for me to explore that aspect [of life in
Romania] that I never knew.
FL: How was it working with Luminita, who I gather you had admired for a long
time?
AU: I consider Luminita a friend of my mother’s and mine. We had previously done
two short films together, and to have her play my [character's] mom was incredible.
She is an amazing actress that I love and a wonderful person. This was one of the
most relaxed film sets I’ve ever been on as both she and Marian Ralea are very
funny and make you feel at ease. This is how we were able to build the relationship
you see on screen.
FL: Your character Alice and her fiancé Allen go visit her parents in Romania.
They have the veneer of prosperity with their iPhones, nice clothes, and rental car,
but you begin to see there are problems. And in fact, they're struggling because of
the financial crisis. This is certainly something people in the "West" can relate to...
AU: This stems from the difference in cultures. For many years the Western world,
particularly America, was perceived by Eastern Europe as being unconditionally
wealthy. Alice is reluctant to talk about her problems. She’s not looking for help or a
hand out but wants to feel close to home when things are unstable. It is this entire
game of hiding how low you are and trying to maintain an appearance of
unremitting prosperity and happiness for your parents but crumbling under the
pressure of it all. It comes from pride. You wouldn’t want your parents to think
you’ve gone off to make a better life for yourself and you have failed.
Ana Ulara and Luminita Gheorghiu in Stere Gulea's I'm An Old Communist Hag.
FL: The veneer is hard to hide though and Alice's mother wants to figure out a way
for her daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law to save their home. There's a great
scene in the movie when Alice’s mother's latent Communist leanings come out. She
didn’t say it was the best time in the world but they did have food in the fridge and
there weren’t homeless people in the street. Is that as a common refrain in
Romania when looking back?
AU: Well I think for some older people but not all… It’s strange as it’s such a painful
and oppressive time for all of us that it’s hard to hear people getting nostalgic about
that time. I started to understand those feelings as I was shooting the film,
particularly the first time I watched it. Then I realized people over 50 had lived half
their lives in one way and found it hard when forced to adapt to something else. I
understood how that rift can leave you bewildered as you lose grasp of everything
you know. Even if the alternative is a better world. All of your youth, all your most
beautiful memories as a child, falling in love, making a family, stay within those
dark times.
This is what we wanted to say more than anything. Stere Gulea is one of the most
fervent anti-communists you’ll find. He has made documentaries about the topic
and was somewhat of a dissident during the communist years. This film doesn’t in
any way reflect that vision. He just wanted to tell a story about someone who isn’t
nostalgic for the dogma of communism or the political aspect, she just associates it
with her youth.
FL: I was going to say I see this movie as being about people who want to look
back at their lives and emphasize the aspects they would like to remember fondly...
AU: Romanticizing of course—people want to romanticize what was wonderful. The
speech around the table that Alice's mother gives, even though it’s coded with
people not doing this or that back then, is a mask. She is trying to say what she says
in the end: “I have left everything that I was in the communist period. I can’t just
forget it.” She doesn’t in any way support the evil aspects of communism, it’s just
half of her life—the best half—is there.
We shot that scene around the table in two days. On the first day the scene had a
certain tone, but our wonderful director, who is so flexible and able to change his
mind—which I see as a sign of intelligence—said he felt the tone we had adopted
was maybe not the best one. The scene is not about people being at war with each
other but understanding each other and celebrating their tenderness.
FL: That actually leads into my next question. What was it like working with Stere
Gulea in formulating your character?
AU: I was excited to work with Stere, but it actually surpassed my expectations. It
was one of the most relaxed and beautiful film sets I’ve ever been on and he was one
of the most attentive film directors. He loves actors and his writing being dragged
into their stories. At some point he thought the actors were stealing the characters
away from him by moving away from the initial script. He nearly had a fit of pride
but decided it was best to have the actors create the characters as they come.
Another one of the beautiful things was the little personal details. Some of the
paintings in Alice’s room are mine and Alan and I rewrote some aspects. There was
great symbiosis between us.
FL: How long was the shoot?
AU: About a month. I shot two weeks in total.
FL: I know you’ve been working on films outside of Romania, and with some
American actors like Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Serena and
Harvey Keitel in an upcoming project. You were one of the Berlin Film Festival's
"Shooting Stars" as well. And since then you've done drama, sci-fi, thrillers, etc.
What attracts you to the roles you choose?
AU: Story. And a character that is unexpected. In many ways, I’m looking for actors,
writers, and directors who break cliché. I like original work that I can sink my teeth
into, and having things that challenge me so I am worried for a while until I fix the
problem—like a math problem.
FL: What do you have coming up?
AU: There's an American film called Thursday, which is in post-production now
and will be in festivals at the beginning of next year. Also Index Zero, an Italian
science-fiction film in English that just premiered. It is touring the world right now
starting with its country of origin. Also we’re hoping to get distribution for an
English film called Camera Trap that I shot in Nepal and the Isle of Man in
England.
http://www.filmlinc.com/daily/entry/actress-ana-ularu
“Where Are You Bucharest?” Director Vlad
Petri Discusses Protests and Filmmaking
Posted by Maya Korn on December 05, 2014
in Making Waves • Interviews
Vlad Petri's Where Are You Bucharest has caused quite a stir in Romania,
documenting the nature of the 2012 protests 23 years after the revolution. His
bold handheld camera style gives one the feeling of being within the protests,
caught between the police and protesters on the street as they reclain University
Square the site of many anti-comminist demonstrations.
FilmLinc spoke to Vlad about what it was like filming within a protest from its
inital days up until the Referendum for the impeachment of the Romanian
President. Where Are you Bucharest? will screen at the Film Society for as part of
the Making Waves contemporary Romanian film series.
FilmLinc: There has been some discussion about how the film aims to show the
incoherence of the protesters and how lost they actually were. Would you say
that is valid?
Vlad Petri: For me it was really an experience to start a film like a research
project, not knowing what it will be in the beginning but being close to the
original footage and taking it from there. Then as a filmmaker and citizen to find
out what really happens on the streets of Bucharest and how people behave
during the protest.
My intention was not to show the confusion or ambiguity of the protesters but
more to make a film that had the feeling or atmosphere of what I felt on the
ground. It was an anthropological approach.
FL: I found the three part structure of the film very interesting, as well as the
handheld camera aesthetic. What caused you to make these stylistic choices?
VP: It was very important for me to document this event, as it was the first time
people had taken to the streets in the 23 years since the Romanian revolution
demanding their rights in front of a government. We knew where we wanted the
film to begin and end, even after the referendum when the President was back
and we didn’t achieve the desired result. The middle we found in the edit.
In terms of the handheld style, I was part of the protest and I wanted the camera
to transmit to the audience what I felt there. I really wanted the look to be organic
and kept the camera close to my body so it felt like the body of the filmmaker and
the protesters.
FL: Another thing I was struck by was some of the violence between the police
and protesters. Did you ever feel in danger or was that part of the thrill?
VP: I was at the beginning as protesters were throwing stones and I had to hold
the camera steady and avoid getting stitches. After that the police used tear gas
which caused me to wake up coughing. However daunting, I had to be there in
the role of the filmmaker.
FL: Were the police upset that you were filming them?
VP: With the police it depends on the protest. I was watching what happened
yesterday with the Eric Garner protest where the police said even if you’re on the
street and a journalist we can arrest you. It’s always a balance between the riot
police, the state, the citizen and the filmmaker. For example in Where Are You
Bucharest? I didn’t want to make the protesters heroic and humiliate police. I
really wanted a balanced viewpoint even if I’m on the people’s side.
FL: Did you find the protesters performed in front of the camera? I was doing
some research and Harun Farocki's Videograms of a Revolution (1989) explores
this aspect in detail. Was that an influence?
VP: People perform even if I wasn’t aware of it at the moment I was filming.
Sometimes this line was very blurred and you would see a sparkle in their eyes for
a fraction of a second when they changed their attitude. Farocki’s film really
questions this and how we represent reality versus the subjective approach of a
filmmaker. That being said I also think sometimes people weren’t aware of the
camera as I used a Canon 5D DSLR and I kept it a little bit lower than my eye
level so I could also interact with the people. In that way the camera felt invisible.
It’s also my point of view, people expected the film to be close to a journalistic
report and to have everything as subjective as it can be but that’s impossible as
there’s a filmmaker behind the camera.
FL: How did you choose your characters? A friend from Bucharest mentioned
they're very representative of the kinds of people you see at protests there.
VP: When I started editing I didn’t want to focus on the story of one character
over another but portray a group of people demanding their rights on the streets
of Bucharest. We wanted a large spectrum of people from: different classes,
young, old, feminists and different political parties.
FL: There was a moment in the film where a character took your phone number
and mentioned he wanted to start a political party? Did you form a
relationship?
VP: I know him now, he’s still doing his political party and he came to the
premier of the film in Bucharest and did a speech. I think he was excited that
night because there had been violence before we met. That’s a moment
representative of the camera body feeling. I was holding my camera but he wasn’t
aware that I was filming him.
FL: How did the protesters react to their representation in the film?
VP: Some wanted another film that was more heroic, more of an activist film. A
lot of them responded to the beginning but the disintegration, the dispersion, the
fights between the different groups when they weren’t united, that’s what they
didn’t like. Then some people told me that they felt it was a fair representation of
what their community was.
I think a lot of people who didn’t go to the protests really liked it and also
international audiences who didn’t necessarily know what was going on, it gave
them positive questions about politics, and representations.
FL: Did you have any favorite stories from the characters that came out during
the film?
VP: Yes many, for example the retired police officer in the film ran as the Socialist
candidate for Mayor of Bucharest in the summer of 2012. I then saw some images
shot by him in North Korea where he had been officially invited by the
government with a comrade of his from Ceaușescu’s presidency.
FL: Was there a difference between what you were reading in the media and
what you were experiencing on the streets? Did you feel like the media were
shaping what people were reading?
VP: Yes, the media was translating everything into a fiction in a very clear way.
They had cranes and reporters; they would cut some people’s viewpoints and put
a spotlight on others. I really wanted to create a fair balanced portrayal, showing
images of the protest from within as a protester, putting a mirror on it so society
could see themselves. The film is intended as a document of our times.
http://www.filmlinc.com/daily/entry/where-are-you-bucharest-director-vladpetri-discusses-protests-and-filmmaki
Making Waves 2014: Films, Panel Discussion
on LGBTQ Rights in Russia
The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Romanian Film
Initiative announce the ninth edition of Making Waves: New Romanian
Cinema, offering a selection of the best of contemporary Romanian filmmaking,
including features, documentaries and shorts, along with panels and special
programs focusing on the work of Romanian filmmakers. The festival will take
place at the Film Society of Lincoln Center from December 4-8.
On Saturday, December 6, Making Waves continues its special
program Creative Freedom through Cinema, about the relationship
between art and politics in Eastern Europe, and the importance of art in
addressing controversial topics and forging dialogue around challenging issues.
This year’s focus is on LGBTQ rights in Russia, the featured country of this
year’s festival. Two powerful cinematic cases in point will be presented:Winter
Journey (Зимний Путь), directed by Sergei Taramajev and Liubov Lvova,
andChildren 404 (Дети-404), by Pavel Loparev and Askold Kurov. Both films
are in Russian, with English subtitles. The screenings (at 1:30pm and 3:30pm,
respectively) will be followed at 5:00pm by a panel discussion with artists and
thinkers from Romania, Russia, and the United States, including writer, lecturer,
and activist Andrew Solomon.
Tickets for Winter Journey and Children 404 go on sale Thursday, October
30. Single screening tickets are $13; $9 for students and seniors (62+); and $8
for Film Society members. Admission to the panel discussion is free.
Complimentary tickets are available starting one hour before showtime from the
Amphitheater box office.
For more information about the festival, please visit the Film Society of
Lincoln Center website.
SCHEDULE
Saturday, December 6, 1:30pm Winter Journey Pavel Loparev & Askold Kurov,
Russia, 2014, 76m Walter Reade Theater 165 W 65th Street (between Broadway
and Amsterdam) New York, New York 10023 Inspired by Schubert’s tragic vocal
cycle “Winterreise,” this provocative film charts the tempestuous attraction
between two young men who could not be more different—a talented opera
student and an aggressive provincial bully. It comes as no surprise that Russian
officials restricted the film’s release following the passage of Putin’s “anti-gay
propaganda” legislation.
Saturday, December 6, 3:30pm Children 404 Sergei Taramajev & Liubov Lvova,
Russia, 2013, 95m Walter Reade Theater 165 W 65th Street (between Broadway
and Amsterdam) New York, New York 10023 Following Vladimir Putin’s 2013
law forbidding “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations with minors,” this
brave and harrowing documentary gives voice to 45 Russian teens who share
their stories through anonymous interviews and video diaries. The title refers to
the common “error 404 – page not found” Web message.
Saturday, December 6, 5:00pm Panel Discussion Elinor Bunin Munroe Film
Center Amphitheater 144 W 65th Street (between Broadway & Amsterdam) New
York, New York 10023 The topic of LGBTQ rights and how arts help in
addressing them will be at the core of this conversation between artists and
intellectuals from Romania, Russia, and the U.S., including Andrew Solomon,
author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression and Far from the Tree,
and an activist in LGBTQ rights, mental health, and the arts.
http://andrewsolomon.com/events/making-waves-2014/
This Week: Making Waves, The Babadook, A
Spell to Ward Off the Darkness, & More!
Inside the Film Society Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Starts Tonight!
Don't miss 5 days of the best in contemporary Romanian cinema including the
foreign-language Oscar entry, The Japanese Dog; the visually stunning epic
Viktoria; a special focus on LGBTQ rights with the sidebar "Creative Freedom
Through Cinema," in-person appearances, free panels, and more. Co-presented
with the Romanian Film Initiative. SAVE with an All Access Pass!
Final
Week! THE BABADOOK Winner Best First Film New York Film Critics
Circle“Deeply disturbing and highly recommended.” –Stephen King“I've never
seen a more terrifying film... it will scare the hell out of you.” –William Friedkin,
The Exorcist Director When a sinister children’s book Mister Babadook
mysteriously appears, a young widow begins to wonder if there is a presence in
the house more disturbed than her 7-year-old son. Opens Tomorrow A SPELL
TO WARD OF THE DARKNESSOne-Week Exclusive Q&As with Ben Russell and
live musical performance by Robert A.A. Lowe!“HYPNOTIC.” –Cath Clarke, Time
Out Robert A.A. Lowe, the celebrated musician behind Lichens and Om, gives a
strangely affecting performance as a quixotic man who embarks on a quest for
utopia—the holy grail of infinite truth, self-knowledge, and spiritual
connectedness. ND/NF 2014. Dec 12–18 THE LAST LAUGH: AN ALTERNATE
HISTORY OF SPANISH COMEDY Spain as you've never seen it before! For one
week only, discover these hilarious illustrations for surviving a society constantly
in flux. This unique series tracks the tradition of grotesque humor across the
history of Spanish cinema, highlighting the country's cultural and political
conditions through surprising and comedic portrayals. SAVE with an All Access
Pass! MORE EVENTS Schedule DOWNLOAD THE APP Here NEW
RELEASES: COMING SOON Opens Dec 12: French crime comedy Tip Top
starring Isabelle Huppert and the lauded Ukrainian doc Maidan; Opens Dec 19:
Eric Rohmer's romantic masterpiece A Tale of Winter and a look at one of the
most iconic structures in existence in Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation, which
screens alongside the celebrated Antonio Gaudí doc by Japanese auteur Hiroshi
Teshigahara. THE FILMS OF JOHN HUSTON—ANJELICA HUSTON IN
PERSON! Dec 19–Jan 11 John Huston was one of the greatest filmmakers of
Hollywood’s golden age and a brilliant actor himself. Discover—or rediscover—
his essential work with our comprehensive retrospective. Includes Prizzi’s Honor,
The Maltese Falcon, Annie, Chinatown, The Night of the Iguana, and much
more. Discount holiday pricing! NEW PODCAST: DAMIEN CHAZELLE TALKS
WHIPLASH Download THE CLOSE-UP to access this exclusive Film Society
content. Also available: conversations with Paul Thomas Anderson, Laura
Poitras, John Waters, Bennett Miller, and a two-part tribute to Mike
Nichols. Film Comment: Ten Really Good Things in Film Biz 2014by Ted Hope
Future's so bright: (only) the positive aspects of the industry this year. Read
More The Season: Gotham Awards and New York Film Critics Honor
CITIZENFOUR, Birdman... Laura Poitras's CITIZENFOUR was named Best
Documentary Monday at the 24th Gotham Awards and by the New York Film
Critics Circle. The Gothams picked NYFF's Birdman as its Best Picture for 2014,
while acting prizes were given to Michael Keaton, Marion Cotillard, and Timothy
Spall. Read More Friend of FSLC BAM presents VIJAY IYER: Music of
Transformation (Dec 18–20 at 7:30pm, BAM Harvey Theater) Learn More This
Holiday Season...
http://www.dailybag.com/deals/358918-film-comment-magazine-new-yorkthis-week-making-waves-the-babadook-a-spell-to-ward-off-the-darkness-more
Broadway World, October 24, 2014
“Film Society of Lincoln Center Partners With Romanian Film
Initiative For Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema"
http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmovies/article/Film-Societyof-Lincoln-Center-Partners-With-Romanian-Film-Initiative-forMAKING-WAVES-NEW-ROMANIAN-CINEMA-20141024#
Cosminnasui, November 6, 2014
“Hedda Sterne Rediscovered: Special Event at Film Society of Lincoln
Center New York"
http://www.cosminnasui.com/2014/10/hedda-sterne-rediscovered/
MUBI, Nov. 19, 2014
The Noteworthy: “Making Waves,” Huppert & Cattrall Look Back,
“Missing Reels"
https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-noteworthy-making-waveshuppert-cattrall-look-back-missing-reels
FREQUENCY, Nov. 19, 2014
“Trailer: Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema 9th Edition"
http://www.frequency.com/video/trailer-making-waves-newromanian-cinema/205986749?cid=5-1739