Romanian Film Festival Reviewed

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Reviews

Published on Sunday, 05 December 2010 21:01

Written by Sean Glass

The 5th annual Romanian Film Festival at NYC's Tribeca Cinemas concluded on Sunday, December 5th, 2010. This year hosts The Romanian Cultural Institute and curator Mihai Chirilov added the moniker “A New Beginning,” in appreciation of the recent success of what has been dubbed the “Romanian New Wave.”  

This year, Cristi Puiu, arguably the one who started it all with his 2006 debut The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, returned with his second feature Aurora which premiered earlier this year at the New York Film Festival to resoundingly positive reviews. Also returning from NYFF are Radu Montean’s Tuesday After Christmas (opening May 25 at Film Forum) and Andrei Ujica’s The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, which opened the festival.

Bobby Paunescu, producer of Aurora and Lazarescu, screens his directorial debut Francesca. Rounding out the “Romanian New Wave” roster of attendees is Razvan Radulescu, writer of Lazarescu, Tuesday, Montean’s Summer Holiday and script consultant on 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, who brings us First of All, Felicia.  

Additional features screening include Kino Caravan (directed by Titus Muntean), Medal of Honor (directed by Calin Peter Netzer), and Portrait of a Fighter as a Young Man (directed by Constantin Popescu).  Stuck on Christmas (directed by Iulia Rugina) rounds out the “Women on the Move” category that Francesca and Felicia share.

The closing night film goes repertory, with Lucian Pintilie’s classic Romanian film Carnival Scenes.  The Docs/Focus HBO Romania category features Merry Circus (directed by Claudiu Mitcu, The Shukar Collective Project (directed by Matei-Alexandru Mocanu), and The World According to Ion B (directed by Alexander Nanau).  Shorts program features The Cage and Lord (directed by Adrian Sitaru), Oxygen (directed by Adina Pintilie), Trolleybus 92 (directed by Stefan Constantinescu and Urban Groove (directed by Ruxandra Ghitescu).

Special events include the Nomad Theatrical Company production of Polanski, Polanski at the Tribeca Cinemas lounge and a performative reading based on Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor by Victor Rebengiuc.  Film Criticism magazine released a special issue this month focusing on the festival and New Romanian Cinema in general.

Best of Fest picks are Aurora, Tuesday After Christmas and The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, all alumni of New York Film Festival.

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