Focus Naomi Kawase
STILL THE WATER
by Marco Bellocchio
TRUE MOTHERS
by Naomi Kawase
SWEET BEAN
by Naomi Kawase
OLYMPICS FILM SIDE A
STILL THE WATER
Japan, France, 2014
Duration: 116’
Romance, Drama
Director: Naomi Kawase
Screenplay: Naomi Kawase
Cinematography: Yutaka Yamazaki
With: Nijirô Murakami, Junko Abe, Miyuki Matsuda
Synopsis:
In the aftermath of a typhoon on the Japanese island of Amami Ōshima, teenager Kaito discovers a tattooed body washed ashore. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Kyoto must deal with the approaching death of her mother, an island shaman. Together, the pair struggle to find their place in the world.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival, Nominee: Palme d’Or Toronto International Film Festival BFI London Film FestivalTrailer:
Watch TrailerTRUE MOTHERS
Japan, France, 2020
Duration: 140’
Drama
Director: Naomi Kawase
Screenplay: Naomi Kawase, Izumi Takahashi
Cinematography: Yuta Tsukinaga, Naoki Sakakibara
With: Hiromi Nagasaku, Arata Iura, Aju Makita
Synopsis:
After a long and unsuccessful struggle to get pregnant, Satoko and her husband decide to adopt a baby boy. A few years later, their parenthood is shaken by a call from Hikari who claims to be the child’s biological mother. Satoko decides to confront Hikari directly.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival São Paulo International Film FestivalTrailer:
Watch TrailerSWEET BEAN
Japan, France, 2015
Duration: 114’
Drama
Director: Naomi Kawase
Screenplay: Naomi Kawase
Cinematography: Shigeki Akiyama
With: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida
Synopsis:
Grumpy Sentaro runs a small bakery that serves dorayaki, pastries filled with sweet red bean paste (“an”). When an old lady, Tokue, offers to help in the kitchen, he reluctantly accepts. She will soon prove to have magic in her hands. Thanks to her secret recipe, the little business flourishes.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival Rotterdan Interantional Film Festival São Paulo International Film Festival, Winner: Best Foreign Feature FilmTrailer:
Watch TrailerOFFICIAL FILM OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020 SIDE A
Japan, 2022
Duration: 120’
Documentary
Director: Naomi Kawase
Cinematography: Yutaka Yamazaki
Synopsis:
From a vast record of 750 days, 5000 hours, Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 SIDE A is an official documentary by Naomi Kawase capturing not only the athletes gathered from all over the world, but also their families, people involved in the Games, volunteers, medical personnel, and protesters shouting for the cancellation of the Olympics. The film shows the passion and anguish that came out of these Olympic Games, which shall be passed on to the future.Festivals:
Cannes Film FestivalTrailer:
Watch TrailerRAPITO / KIDNAPPED
Italy, 2023
Duration: 134’
Drama/History
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Screenplay: Marco Bellocchio, Susanna Micchiarelli, Edoardo Albinati
Cinematography: Francesco Di Giacomo
With: Enea Sala, Leonardo Maltese, Fausto Russo Alesi
Synopsis:
The story of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival, Nominee Palme d’OrTrailer:
Watch TrailerYOUTH (SPRING)
France, Hong Kong, Louxembourg, Netherlands, 2023
Duration: 212’
Documentary
Director: Wang Bing
Screenplay: Naomi Kawase
Cinematography: Shigeki Akiyama
With: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida
Synopsis:
Zhili, the Chinese garment capital. Life is bustling in all directions, to the rhythm of sewing machines. Here is where all the rural youth living along the Yangtze River come to find work. Qingchun (Youth (Spring)) immerses itself in this precarious and intensely hard-working society, where hope is still allowed.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival, Nominee Palme d’OrTrailer:
Watch TrailerLAST SUMMER
France, 2023
Duration: 104’
Drama/Thriller
Director: Catherine Breillat
Screenplay: Pascal Bonitzer, Catherine Breillat, Maren Louise Kaehne
Cinematography: Jeanne Lapoirie
With: Léa Drucker, Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau
Synopsis:
Follows Anne, a brilliant lawyer who lives with her husband Pierre and their daughters. Anne gradually engages in a passionate relationship with Theo, Pierre's son from a previous marriage, putting her career and family life in danger.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival, Nominee Palme d’OrTrailer:
Watch TrailerFREMONT
United States, 2023
Duration: 91’
Comedy
Director: Babak Jalali
Screenplay: Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli
Cinematography: Laura Valladao
With: Anaita Wali Zada, Hilda Schmelling, Avid See-tho, Siddique Ahmed
Synopsis:
Donya works for a Chinese fortune cookie factory in San Francisco. Formerly a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, she struggles to put her life back in order. In a moment of sudden revelation, she decides to send out a special message in a cookie.Festivals:
Sundance Film FestivalTrailer:
Watch TrailerSTELLA IN LOVE
France, 2022
110’
Comedy/Drama
Director: Sylvie Verheyde
Screenplay: Sylvie Verheyde, William Wayolle
Cinematography: Léo Hinstin
With: Flavie Delangle, Marina Fois, Benjamin Biolay
Synopsis:
Stella discovers the famous Parisian club, the Bains Douches, the 80s and its crazy nights. His friends are just studying, his father has left with another woman and his mother is depressed. This year will decide his life.Festivals:
Locarno International Film FestivalTrailer:
Watch TrailerTERRESTRIAL VERSES
Iran, 2023
77’
Drama
Directors: Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami
Screenplay: Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami
Cinematography: Adib Sobhani
With: Sadaf Asgari, Ardeshir Kazemi, Gohar Kheirandish
Synopsis:
Follows everyday people from all walks of life as they navigate the cultural, religious, and institutional constraints imposed on them by various social authorities, from school teachers to bureaucrats. These stirring vignettes, humorous and affecting, capture the spirit and determination of people amidst adversity, offering a nuanced portrait of a complex society.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival, Nominee: Un Certain RegardTrailer:
Watch TrailerLEGUA
Portugal, France, Italy, 2023
119’
Drama
Directors: Filipa Reis, João Miller Guerra
Screenplay: João Miller Guerra, Filipa Reis, Sara Morais, José Filipe Costa, Letícia Simões
Cinematography: Vasco Viana
With: Carla Marciel, Fátima Soares, Vitória Nogueira da Silva, Sara Machado, Paulo Calatré, Manuel Mozos
Synopsis:
At an old manor house in northern Portugal, Ana helps her friend, Emília, the elderly housekeeper who is determined to continue to keep the unoccupied house in order for the owners who are never there. As the seasons turn, Mónica, Ana’s daughter, challenges her mother’s choices and the three generations of women search to understand where they belong in a world that is rapidly fading, where the cycle of life is renovated only through inevitable endings.Festivals:
Cannes Film Festival, Wuinzaine des CineastesTrailer:
Watch TrailerTHE QUARREL
India, 2021
93’
Drama
Director: Sanal Kumar Sasidharan
Screenplay: Sanal Kumar Sasidharan
Cinematography: Chandru Selvaraj
With: Tovino Thomas, Kani Kusruthi, Sudev Nair, Baby Thanmaya, Azeez Nedumangadu
Synopsis:
On the day he agreed to appear in court to sign a mutual divorce, Siddharthan, who is also a lawyer, cheated on his wife Lakshmi and went on an inland drive. He urges Lakshmi over the phone to postpone the divorce, citing their daughter Tara's future, but the attempt fails. On the way back, he met Sathi and her dumb daughter who was leaving home due to marital problems. That meeting changes his outlook on life.Festivals:
Film Bazaar 2021Trailer:
Watch TrailerWHERE NO SHIPS GO
2022
Duration: 18 min
Directed by: Vlad Buzăianu
With: Matei Gorgos, Codrut Ioniță, Iulian Postelnicu
SYINOPSIS:
A storm in their family and a storm on the sea, happening at once, trigger radical changes in the lives of two young brothers. One discovers the fantastic world of childhood, while the other is struggling to hold on to it.
ALIBABA
2022
Duration: 18 min
Directed by: Vlad Popa
With: Katia Pascariu, Tania Filip, Elena Voicu, Mihaela Rădescu
SYNOPSIS:
A grandmother, a mother and her daughter meet at an oriental restaurant to negotiate the girl's transfer to a better school. Because they have not been able to get the residence visa, the grandmother calls her friend from a prestigious school to find out about transfer possibilities. After the phone call the two women have to choose between a disability act, which will force the granddaughter to fake a disability, or an ethnicity act, which will result in the expulsion of a Roma child. Despite the grotesque negotiation, the women end their lunch with a Turkish dessert.
NIGHTPRACTICE
2023
Duration: 16 min
Directed by: Bogdan Alexandru
With: Andrei Giurgea, Tiberius Zavelea, Gabriel Spahiu, Marc Titieni, Rareș Ularu, Horațiu Băcilă, Vlad Tudoran, Robi Brage, Antonio-Daniel Petrica
SYNOPSIS:
The new goalkeeper brought to a junior football team is greeted with hostility by the other boys. Robert, the only friendly teammate, develops an obsession with him. The two grow close, but Robert reveals his strange craving for human blood.
APPALACHIA
2022
Duration: 28 min
Directed by: Roxana Stroe
With: Zea Duprez, Phenix Brossard, Costel Cașcaval
SYNOPSIS:
In a deeply pious community of provincial Romania, two teenage outcasts fall in love while everything else falls apart.
BERLINER KINDL
2022
Duration: 21 min
Directed by: Lucia Chicoş
With: Anca Munteanu, Ionuț Vișan, Alexa Tofan, Ruxandra Simion
SYNOPSIS:
Raluca, 26, recently returned from Berlin to a springtime Bucharest hit by the pandemic, works as a home delivery girl for supermarkets. One day, one of her customers turns out to be a young guy with a sense of humor and a cute cat, so Raluca's bike ride through a traffic-choked Bucharest with guys picking on her at every corner becomes slightly idyllic under the hope of a new love story. Encouraged by her friends, Raluca finds an excuse to invite herself into the guy's house, but imagination is almost always more interesting than reality.
OUR SUMMER BREAK
2022
Duration: 22 min
Directed by: Lara Ionescu
With: Mihaela Teleoaca, Edith Alibec
SYNOPSIS:
After a long period of not talking to each other, Ana, freshly out of med-school, reunites with her mother by the seaside, to rekindle the relationship. In the pursuit of retrieving some of her very early memories, she begins to understand and fill in some gaps from her upbringing. The trip along this memory lane will unfold things left unsaid for too long. A story about family ties, love and miscommunication.
KARINA
2023
Duration: 19 min
Directed by: Ilinca Hărnuț
With: Sofia Nicolaescu, Emil Măndănac, Sînziana Bucura Nicola, Ronaldo Matsangos
SYNOPSIS:
Karina loves everything about Dan, his Insta posts, the music he writes, the conversations they have online. Tonight was his band's first concert since the pandemic started, and Karina finally gets to meet him live. But his sister and brother-in-law are waiting outside the bar, so the four end up spending the evening together. Karina is far too young for Dan, and as much as everyone here tries to overlook it, her presence will eventually test the relationship and moral ground between the two brothers.
LA DISTANȚĂ
2023
Duration: 23 min
Directed by: Dana Rogoz
With: Andreea Vasile, Mădălina Craiu, Mirela Nicolau, Gabriel Spahiu
SYNOPSIS:
A woman takes her friend on a trip to the rural area of Romania, where she hopes to find a house to move into in the near future. They prefer to sleep overnight at the house of an old lady, instead of a touristic guesthouse. During the night, a local man appears at the door of their accommodation, aggressively demanding his borrowed money.
SASHA
2022
Duration: 13 min
Directed by: Serghei Chiviriga
With: Theodor Șoptelea, Andrei Miercure, Silvana Mihai, Eva Cosac, Sandra Ducuță
SYNOPSIS:
Confused by the whole world and his own body, a teenager is forced to discover in a strange way the truth about his sexual identity by confronting his other half.
KEEPING DISTANCE
2023
Duration: 28 min
Directed by: Cecilia Ștefănescu
With: Rodica Lazăr, Dana Voicu, Emil Măndănac, Matray Laszlo
SYNOPSIS:
Post pandemic isolation, a woman who is separating from her husband is trying to save the relationship by trying to fulfill her husband’s uncle’s last wishes.
VENUS
2023
Duration: 26 min
Directed by: Carina-Gabriela Dașoveanu
With: Marina Palii, Lucian Iftime, Ștefan Radu
SYNOPSIS:
Marina (30) and Lucian (35 ) are in a happy long lasting relationship. One day, Lucian finds out that he has an illness that prevents him to touch other people anymore. Is love enough for Marina to stay in a relationship where she can't touch Lucian ever again?
I WANT TO SHATTER THE GREENHOUSE
2022
Duration: 21 min
Directed by: Teona Galgoțiu
With: Ioana Bugarin, Valentin Popescu, Ana Covalciuc, Vlad Galer
Sinopsis:
Sara is confronted by the first signs of a disease she inherited from her father, which, in its final stage, will turn their bodies into plants. Sara needs a major change. But before that, she has to try to get rid of the violent memories from her childhood, so she visits her bedridden father and tells him everything she couldn’t tell him until now.
ALL INCLUSIVE
France-Colombia, 2022
Duration: 20’
Directed by: Duván Duque Vargas
With: Maximiliano Rojas, Leopoldo Serrano, Alejandra Herrera
SYNOPSIS:
Eleven-year-old Fer travels with his family to a countryside resort a few hours outside Bogotá. Although Fer’s father will be doing business, he has promised to make time for family fun, something that has been missing from their lives for a while.
FESTIVALS
Toronto International Film Festival
AMOK
Hungary-Romania, 2022
Duration: 14’
Directed by: Balázs Turai
With: Benjamin Efrati, Andrea Bertók
SYNOPSIS:
After losing his fiancée and his good looks in a freak accident, Clyde must confront his inner demon.
FESTIVALS
Transilvania International Film Festival
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Hong Kong International Film Festival
Sarajevo Film Festival
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
Annecy International Animation Festival
AS IT WAS
Poland-Ukraine, 2023
Duration: 15’
Regie: Damian Kocur, Anastasia Solonevych
With: Valeriia Berezovska, Kyrylo Zemlyanyi, Sofia Berezovska, Olena Korohod
SYNOPSIS:
Lera has been living in Berlin for almost a year since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. One day she decides to go back to Kyiv. On her way, she finds out that her family is not in Kyiv and will arrive only the next day. She meets her friend Kyrylo, with whom she spends the day.
FESTIVALS
Festival de Cannes, The Short Films Competition
Polish Film Festival, Short Film Competition
BASRI & SALMA IN A NEVER-ENDING COMEDY
Indonesia, 2023
Duration: 15’
Directed by: Khozy Rizal
With: Arham Rizky Saputra, Rezky Chiki, Hj. Sugiati, Alghifari Jasin, Alif Anggara, Sri Eka Putri, Utri Fadhilla Muslimin, Syifa Mahya, Raka Ardhinata Putra Wardhany, Raja Pricha Putra Wardhani, Siti Nur Aisyah
SYNOPSIS:
A husband and wife married for 5 years, own an Odong-Odong at the carnival together, spending their days entertaining and taking care of other people’s children without any of their own. Between meddling relatives, self-doubt and an explosive confrontation, they uncover why they have not been blessed with a child.
FESTIVALS:
- Cannes Film Festival - Short Films Competition 2023
- Guanajuato International Film Festival 2023, Mexico
CHERRIES
Lituania, 2022
Duration: 15’
Directed by: Vytautas Katkus
With: Vytautas Katkus, Viktoras Katkus, Vismantė Ruzgaite, Vitalijus Luciunas, Audrius Luciunas
SYNOPSIS:
A recently retired father invites his son to help him with the cherry picking in the garden. The father is in no hurry to finish the cherry job though, as he tries to catch up with his son. The cherries remain in the background.
FESTIVALS:
- Cannes Film Festival - Short Films Competition 2022
- European Film Festival Palić 2022, Serbia
- DokuFest, International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2022, Kosovo
- Sarajevo Film Festival 2022
- Concorto Film Festival 2022, Italy - Asino d'Oro, Best Short Film Award
- Castrovillari Film Festival 2022, Italy - Jury Special Mention
FORGIVE ME TONIGHT
Azerbaijani, 2023
Duration: 20’
Directed by: Elvin Adigozel
With: Ziya Aga, Aydan Hasanova, Kamran Agabalayev, Ilgara Tosova, Shahin Nasirov, Fargana Abdulla
SINOPSIS:
Fuad ekes out a tiny living working at a meat factory. His only solace is his little son and the slim hope that he will one day get back together with his wife. A chance encounter with a mysterious family in a wine-bar gives him a new found spirit to reclaim his lost love. But when he is the architect of his own dashed hopes he has to face up to his culpability in a most surreal fashion.
HUNTING PERIOD
France-Belgium, 2022
Duration: 19’
Directed by: Élodie Beaumont
With: Laurena Thellier, Thomas Daloz, Leonie Dahan-Lamort, Satya Dusaugey, Igor Kovalsky
SYNOPSIS:
When she has just turned 18, Gaby is still very protected by her dad and her younger sister. Even the menstrual period seems to want to continue to spare her, until she decides to force things a little.
SAHBET | MY GIRL FRIEND
Egipt, 2022
Duration: 17’
Directed by: Kawthar Younis
With: Marc Haggar, Ilham Safei El Din, Fadel El Garhi, Sonia Farid
SYNOPSIS:
Desperate for intimacy, Ali follows his girlfriend’s suggestion that puts their relationship to the test. The plan unfolds unexpectedly when gender roles become blurred.
FESTIVALS:
- Cairo International Film Festival 2022, Egipt
- Dublin International Film Festival 2023, Irlanda
- Festival International de Films de Femmes 2023, Franța
ON XERXES’ THRONE
Greece, 2022
Duration: 15’
Directed by: Evi Kalogiropoulou
With: Yorgos Mazonakis, Angela Brousko, Myrto Kontoni
SYNOPSIS:
A dystopian workplace at the Perama shipyard: a ban on physical contact has turned human interaction into otherworldly simulations.
FESTIVALS:
- Cannes Semaine de la Critique - Short Film Competition
- Sarajevo Film Festival
- Concorto Film Festival
PILLOW FACE
2022
Duration: 15’
Directed by: Saverio Cappiello
With: Samuele Marvulli, Danny Petrosillo, Stefano Losacco, Francesca Grimaldi
SYNOPSIS:
Samuel, Danny and Stefano, a group of three friends, spend their days by an empty canal near the beach. One afternoon Samuel, the youngest, tired of how he's always being treated makes an unexpected move hoping that from now on his friends will allow him to participate in their games and rituals.
FESTIVALS:
- Locarno Film Festival
SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
Singapore, 2022
Duration: 19’
Directed by: Alvin Lee
With: Wang Weiliang, Benjamin Heng, Priscelia Chan, Oon Shu An
SYNOPSIS:
A funeral director finds himself hapless when the wrong body has been sent for cremation. When there seems to be no other way, he devises a plan for a sham funeral with the deceased’s three estranged children.
WHITE ANT
United Kingdom-India, 2023
Duration: 15’
Directed by: Shalini Adnani
With: Denzil Smith, Sushannt Sapare, Harish Kesariya
SYNOPSIS:
A man is summoned from Mumbai to his childhood home to deal with a termite infestation.
FESTIVALS:
- Sundance Film Festival 2023
- Glasgow Short Film Festival 2023
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023
MAMMALIA
Duration: 88’
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Fantasy film
Directed by: Sebastian Mihăilescu
Screenplay: Sebastian Mihăilescu, Andrei Epure
Director de imagine: Barbu Bălășoiu
With: István Téglás, Mălina Manovici, Denisa Nicolae
SYNOPSIS:
Camil, a troubled 39-years-old man who wakes up one night without his penis. The nightmare continues when his partner Andreea also disappears after meeting a former lover. He sets out looking for her and, wearing women’s clothes, reaches a secret community dedicated to fertility, where no men are allowed. There he finds something far more disturbing.
Trailer:
DAY OF THE TIGER
Duration: 80’
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Andrei Tănase
Screenplay: Andrei Tănase
Cinematography: Barbu Bălășoiu
With: Cătălina Moga, Paul Ipate, Alex Velea
SYNOPSIS:
Vera, 31 years old, a veterinarian at a Zoo in a small town in Transylvania, is consumed by personal problems and has a nervous breakdown. A tiger from the Zoo escapes and Vera has to search for it. The film is inspired by real events that happened in Sibiu in 2011.
Trailer:
REFUGE
2022
Duration: 82’
Genre: Action/Drama
Directed by: Liviu Mărghidan
Screenplay: Alexandru Popa, Liviu Mărghidan
Cinematography: Mircea Valentin
With: Dragoș Olaru, Judith State
SYNOPSIS:
A family of four (the father, the mother and the two siblings, a boy and a girl), having been affected by a divorce, undertake their annual trip to the mountains, meant to get the children and their parents closer, as they live in different countries, France and Romania. Their holiday is turned upside down when the children vanish, running away on the pathway to a mountain hut, thus creating a tense atmosphere filled with frantic searches, confrontations between the adults and a climatic ending.
TO THE NORTH
2022
Duration: 122’
Genre: Thriller
Directed by: Mihai Mincan
Screenplay: Mihai Mincan
Cinematography: George Chiper
With: Niko Becker, Soliman Cruz
SYNOPSIS:
Inspired by true events, the film follows Joel, a religious Filipino sailor, who finds a Romanian stowaway, Dumitru, hidden between some containers during his shift on a transatlantic ship. Joel decides to hide him and subsequently starts feeling tormented by his crew, friends and even God. Soon, a dangerous cat and mouse game begins. When his crew, his own friends, even God itself start to turn their backs on him, Joel learns that he has to face his cruel destiny alone.
Trailer:
ARSENIE. A MIRACOLOUS AFTERLIFE
2023
Duration: 96’
Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Alexandru Solomon
Screenplay: Alexandru Solomon
Cinematography: Tudor Platon, Marius Beșu
With: Cosmin Neculau
SYNOPSIS:
Arsenie Boca, a priest, theologian, and mystic persecuted by the communist regime, is considered holy by many believers, although he has yet to be canonized.
Trailer:
NORA
2023
Duration: 85’
Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Carla Teaha
With: Nora Iuga
SYNOPSIS:
A woman in her 90s is semi-naked on her bed swinging her legs up in the air while singing Das Mädchen unter der Laterne (the WW2 song best known as Lili Marleen) in perfect German. This is how you meet Nora Iuga for the very first time. She is perhaps Romania’s most celebrated poet and writer at present, a woman whose “morbid eroticism” and playfulness shocked and outraged the communist regime that ruled Romania until 1989. The woman is a genuinely irresistible human being.
BETWEEN REVOLUTIONS
2023
Country: România, Croația, Qatar, Iran
Duration: 70’
Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Vlad Petri
Screenplay: Lavinia Braniște, Vlad Petri
SYNOPSIS:
In 1970s Bucharest, Zahra and Maria form a deep friendship while studying at university. As political turmoil brews in Iran, Zahra is forced to return home, leaving Maria behind. Over the next decade, they maintain their connection through a series of letters, chronicling their struggles as women fighting for a voice and their respective countries moving in divergent directions. Despite the distance and obstacles, their longing for each other remains strong.
Trailer:
PHOENIX. HAR/JAR
2022
Duration: 104’
Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Cornel Mihalache
Screenplay: Cornel Mihalache, Claudia Nedelcu Duca
Director de imagine: Daniel Constantin Jr., Daniel Șerbănică, Mihai Costea, Cristi Ilea, Dan Gheorghe, Ștefan Stan, Dinu Mărgărint, Răzvan Chiriac
With: Nicu Covaci, Josef Kapll, Mircea Baniciu
SYNOPSIS:
PHOENIX. HAR/JAR is the story of a legendary Romanian band that has been reborning for the last 60 years regardless of times, ages and prides.
Trailer:
ALL THE RIVERS FLOW INTO THE SEA AND THE SEA NEVER FILLS UP
2020
Country: România
Duration: 50’
Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Claudiu Mitcu
Screenplay: Claudiu Mitcu
SYNOPSIS:
A mostly musical documentary, this is an anthropological study on a small comunity in Sfântu Gheorghe, where we follow the advent of choir singing as a tradition. We follow the women's choir and we see how music becomes a red thread in the life of the community, present in times of happiness of sadness, from weddings and births to times war.
Trailer:
DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD
2023
Country: România
Duration: 163’
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Directed by: Radu Jude
Screenplay: Radu Jude
Cinematography: Marius Panduru
With: Ilinca Manolache, Ovidiu Pîrșan, Nina Hoss, Dorina Lazăr, Katia Pascariu
SYNOPSIS:
An overworked and underpaid production assistant to film a workplace safety video commissioned by a multinational company. But an interviewees makes a statement which forced him to re-invent his story to suit the company's narrative.
Festivals:
Locarno International Film FestivalTrailer:
Watch TrailerBLACK SEA GAS: HOW THEY DID IT?
2023
Duration: 146’
Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Andrei Dăscălescu
SYNOPSIS:
The documentary film, directed by Andrei Dascălescu, follows the main stages of the first gas development project in the Black Sea in the last 30 years. The fabrication of the production platform, its transportation and installation in the Black Sea, construction of the gas treatment plant near Vadu, installation of the offshore and onshore pipeline. All challenges, innovations, but also problems are thoroughly documented in this documentary filmed between 2020 and 2022, which abounds with spectacular images, with the most complex operations, but also with the human stories of the project’s employees and coordinators.
by Naomi Kawase
