19/04/2011

Five years after his How I Spent the End of the World [+see also:
trailer
film profile] won an award in Un Certain Regard, Catalin Mitulescu returns to the Cannes sidebar with his second feature, Loverboy [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ada Condeescu
film profile]. The film stars George Pistereanu and Ada Condeescu, the leads from Florin Serban's If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ada Condeescu
film profile].

Written by Mitulescu, Bianca Oana and screenwriter-director Bogdan Mustata (winner of the Golden Bear for his short A Good Day for a Swim in 2007), Loverboy tells the story of Luca (Pistereanu), a 20-year old who seduces young women and then makes them sell themselves through a prostitution network based in the city of Constanta. His problems start when he falls in love with one of his victims, Veli (Condeescu). The film's title comes from the unofficial name the police give to young delinquents like Luca.

“To be a loverboy is a job, but the film is a love story”, says Mitulescu, while Daniel Mitulescu, the film's producer, told Cineuropa, “We're glad we'll be in Cannes and we hope to release the film as soon as possible in Romania”.

Pistereanu and Condeescu are flanked by other well-known Romanian actors: Bogdan Dumitrache (Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man [+see also:
film review
film profile]), Clara Voda (If I Want to Whistle), Coca Bloos (Nikki and Flo) and Ion Besoiu, winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Gopos. The cast also includes newcomers, such as Alexandru Mititelu, who also appeared in If I Want to Whistle.

Shooting took place in 15 locations in Constanta and the town's surroundings in September-October 2010, with Marius Panduru (If I Want to Whistle, Outbound, Police, Adjective [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ana Ularu
film profile] [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
film profile]) as DoP.

Loverboy is produced by Strada Film and co-produced by Chimney Pot (Norway) and Film i Väst (Sweden). In 2006, it received €350,000 from the Romanian Film Centre.