Romanian Film Festival NYC Comes Uptown

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 24 November 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 6th Annual Romanian Film Festival takes place November 30 - December 6, 2011 at the Walter Reade Theatre and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, New York City.

The Romanian Film Festival in New York City was initiated in 2006 as a partnership of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York (RCINY) with the Transilvania International Film Festival and Tribeca Cinemas.

This year the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York joins with the Film Society of Lincoln Center to present the latest Romanian premieres along with an view of evolving Romanian cinema.

This year's Festival highlights several tributes:

Alex Leo Serban – a dedication to the memory of the Romanian film critic.

Liviu Ciulei – The Festival honors one of the legendary masters of Romanian theatre and film, who passed away this October, with the very first U.S. retrospective of Ciulei's outstanding directing career. Films shown are:

• Eruption (1957) –  Ciulei's debut feature is about wildcatters in a dying town, produced for the 100th anniversary of the Romanian oil industry.
• Forest of the Hanged (1964) – With this film, Ciulei won the award for Best Director at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival. It became the first Romanian feature to attract wide international attention.
• Danube Waves (1959) – Actress Irina Petrescu made her screen debut in this film and will be present.

Radu Muntean – Muntean is one of the most active directors of the Romanian New Wave. The world premiere of Visiting Room, his new HBO documentary, will be screened as part of a retrospective of his work which includes:

• Tuesday, after Christmas (2010), highly acclaimed at Cannes
• The Rage (2003), his debut feature
• The Paper Will Be Blue (2006)
• Boogie (2008)

Cristi Puiu – The tribute to the director of The Death of Mr Lazarescu and Aurora includes a 10th anniversary screening of his debut film, Stuff and Dough, followed by a panel discussion with top U.S. and European critics.

Other films include these latest Romanian premieres:

Morgen
dir. Marian Crisan
This "charming fish-out-of-water tale about a supermarket security guard who defies obtuse rules and his grumpy wife in order to help a friend in need" is Romania's official Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Film.

Principles of Life
dir. Constantin Popescu
A middle-aged husband and father seems to have the perfect life on all fronts -- until it starts to unravel, in ways that call for a dogged sense of humor.

Loverboy
dir. Catalin Mitulescu
Patrick Dempsey he ain't. This "loverboy" is actually a recruiter for human trafficking as he plays on the emotions of vulnerable young victims.

Outbound
dir. Bogdan George Apetri
A woman on a day pass from prison to attend her mother's funeral plans to escape the country and encounters the main characters of her life. The film is constructed in a past/present/future format with time constraints that makes for an absorbing drama.

Red Gloves
dir. Radu Gabrea
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was quashed, but neighboring Communist Romania had no intention of letting it happen there. "A young writer is pressured to incriminate his literary colleagues during months of intense interrogation and psychological torture" in this adaptation of the novel by Eginald Schlattner.

Says Corina Suteu, Festival founder and director of the RCINY, "There's no greater reward or recognition than being invited by the Film Society of Lincoln Center to partner in presenting the festival starting this year.

"I am confident that our consistent work around the inspiring Romanian New Wave achieved such institutional legitimacy. I also am hopeful this is only a new beginning."

For more information, go to www.filmlinc.com and click on "The 6th Romanian Film Festival in New York".

Romanian Film Festival
November 30 - December 6, 2011

Walter Reade Theatre
Film Society of Lincoln Center
165 W. 65th Street
New York City
212-875-5600

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
Lincoln Center
144 W. 65th Street
New York City
212-875-5600

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