The Romanian Cultural Institute in London is proud to support, in partnership with BFI London Film Festival, the Romanian filmmakers' participation at the 54th edition, which takes place between 13-28 October 2010.
This year, the audience will have the opportunity to see the UK premieres of Aurora, The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man and the short film Derby.
Directors Cristi Puiu, Andrei Ujica, Constantin Popescu and Paul Negoescu will be present for Q&A. Watch this space for updates regarding the Romanian presence within the BFI London Film Festival.
Cristi Puiu is the director, but also the main actor in his new film, Aurora, a study of a day in the life of Viorel, an embittered, middle-aged divorcee, a disturbing and darkly comic portrait of male angst. Nearly three hours long, this is an utterly absorbing account of the way one man's rancorous grievances turn to violence, a masterly character study whose bleak insights into obsession are leavened with sparks of gallows humour. Time Out London, which appreciated the film as "superb", mentioned that Aurora wouldn't be a production liked by everybody, but that it was "the work of a courageous director - screenwriter, ready to tackle zones of the human experience most film makers are not conscious of".
The second Romanian premiere in London is The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu. In this magisterial, engrossing documentary portrait, Andrei Ujica tells - entirely through archive footage, most of which originated as state propaganda - the story of the Romanian president's long grip on power. This is, on one level, a transportive, expertly assembled work of historical record. Without commentary or titles, it brilliantly evokes the Ceausescu era: from the grand spectacle of party conferences and May Day marches to desperate state visits to understocked supermarkets on the eve of his downfall.
With Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man, Constantin Popescu follows his contribution to the Romanian new wave portmanteau film Tales from the Golden Age with a daringly ambitious debut feature of epic scale. The Soviet Army invaded Romania in 1944, turning the country into a dictatorship. As the regime grew increasingly repressive, resistance groups multiplied, springing up in the Romanian mountains where many had been driven and taking on the might of the Russian military in forests and open fields. The resistance survived well into the 1950s. Portrait of the Fighter As a Young Man focuses on one band of men led by Gavril Ogoranu (a captivating performance from Constantin Dita, who's well supported by the ensemble cast) as they adapt to their environment, have to deal with anything from hunger to the secret police, and accept the anti-Communist struggle as their very way of life.
The starting point of Derby, by Paul Negoescu is a father's embarrassment as his young daughter brings her boyfriend home to dinner. The boy arrives early and they go to her bedroom.
All directors will be present for Q&A. Their visit to the BFI LFF is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.
When & Where: Aurora - Sun 24 October, 4pm, VUE7 cinema; The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu - Sun 17 October, 4 pm, VUE6 cinema; Additional screening: on Thu 28th Oct, NFT2 (British Film Institute), at 6.30pm. Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man - Sun 17 October, 3pm, RIO cinema; Mon 18 October, 6.30pm, VUE6 cinema; Tue 19 October, 3.15pm, VUE6 cinema; Derby - Tue 19 October, 6.15pm, NFT2; Wed 20 October, 4.15pm, NFT3. Tickets: www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/990 from £7.50 to £13.
Constantin Popescu will also take part in the Fighting for Identity: Turning Struggle into Cinema discussion, organized within Focus with Time Out event. Julian Schnabel's Miral, Constantin Popescu's Portrait of a Fighter as a Young Man and Rachid Bouchareb's Outside the Law are just three films in the LFF programme that focus on characters fighting against oppression to preserve their strong sense of cultural and national identity, whilst documenting the personal stories within the historical framework of conflict. When & Where: Sat 16 October, 8.30pm, BFI Southbank (Delegate Centre). Free entrance.
