“Romanian realism” still on the rise
The Romania on the Movie Map event, which ran in tandem with the NexT International Short and Medium-length Film Festival in Bucharest, ended on Saturday with a lively discussion on the subject of the Romanian New Wave.
The four-hour discussion involved local as well as international film critics and was moderated by Romanian critics Magda Mihailescu and Alex Leo Serban. The latter’s latest book, 4 Decades, 3 Years and 2 Months of Romanian Cinema, is about to be hit the shelves in Romania.
The discussion primarily focused on the present state of Romanian cinematography. The biggest bone of contention was one of semantics: could the word “minimalism” be applied to the current avalanche of film directed by young Romanian directors (a list that includes Cristian Mungiu, Cristi Puiu and Corneliu Porumboiu)? The general conclusion seemed to be that “Romanian realism” would be a more acceptable term for both critics and the filmmakers themselves.
The international critics present were also shown the latest Romanian films expected to turn up at Cannes and other festivals, including Porumboiu’s Police, Adjective [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
film profile]. The second film by the director of 12:08 East of Bucharest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
interview: Daniel Burlac
film profile] looks at an elaborate sting operation in Porumboiu’s sleepy hometown Vaslui (where his debut feature was also set). It confirms his talent for combining humour and a scathing critique of Romanian society in a thoroughly cinematic way.
The directorial debut of laurelled screenwriter Razvan Radulescu (co-directed with Melissa de Raaf), First of All, Felicia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Melissa de Raaf and Razvan …
film profile], looks at a 40-year-old woman in limbo between her parents’ home and her life abroad – a recurrent theme in Romanian films. It shows a distinctly different vision from the work Radulescu has done as a (co)writer for recent films by Puiu, Radu Muntean and Radu Gabrea.
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