21/08/2013 - The director will start shooting his second feature in October, a psychological drama produced by Clandestino Productions

Nine years after his debut with comedy Italian Girls and three after his Wedding in Bessarabia, Nap Toader starts pre-production for psychological drama Bypass (working title). The film is produced by recently founded production company Clandestino Productions and shooting will start in the second half of October, ending three weeks later.

The film's events take place during one autumn night when an emergency ambulance with a team of three, a doctor, a paramedic and a driver, is called to an old man's apartment. After failing to resuscitate their patient, the three find a mattress filled with US dollars. The event will change their lives forever as the drama, says the director, will explore the decomposition of their friendship.

The main characters are played by Medeea Marinescu (photo – famous in France after the success of Isabelle Mergault's Je vous trouve tres beau [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Alexandru Potocean (Silent Wedding [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Gabriel Spahiu (Everybody in Our Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile]). The film's DoP is Silviu Stavila, founder of Clandestino Productions. The screenplay is written by Alin Ludu Dumbrava and Dan Sorin Staiculescu.

In 2011 the project received a grant of approximately €170,000 from the Romanian Film Centre. According to Toader, the film's budget is small enough to force changes in the original screenplay. The director helped an ambulance team over a period of two weeks in order to get familiar with the rythm of their activities.

No domestic release date has been set yet, but the film is expected to reach Romanian screens some time in 2014.