Program:
7 July, 19.00 | RCI London, free - please book your seathere.'CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'' (2007) - directed by Cristian Nemescu
Nemescu's posthumous feature debut was inspired by an event that had occurred in the late 1990s during the Kosovo war. A village station master in a Bucharest suburb blocks a train filled with military equipment and American marines for lack of legitimate customs papers. The scenario unfolds over the course of several days, as village locals mingle with the stranded troops. Forced to live side by side, both groups discover that life can never again be quite the same.
"Far and above, California Dreamin' is the most lively and liberated film proposal we've seen in our entire ten days." - Pascale Ferran, awarding the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes, in 2007
'California Dreamin'' | Romania | 2007 | 155 min | cast: Armand Assante, Jamie Elman, Răzvan Vasilescu, Maria Dinulescu_________________________________________________________________________________________11 July, 19.00 | RCI London, free - please book your seat here.'FRANCESCA' (2009) + Q&A with director Bobby Păunescu
One of the opening films of the 2009 Venice Film Festival, Păunescu's acclaimed drama Francesca is an unsettling story about risktaking, ambition and perilous choices set against the background of the Bucharest underworld. Francesca is a young kindergarten teacher who dreams to find a better life for herself in Italy. Her departure is postponed because Miță, her boyfriend with whom she plans to settle abroad, is entangled in an unfinished business that is about to reveal some painful truths.
"Bobby Păunescu makes an intriguing debut as feature director with Francesca, an immigration yarn given substance by its blackly comic view of the characters and an involving perf as the titular wannabe emigree by Monica Bîrlădeanu." - Variety
'Francesca' | Romania | 2009 | 96min | cast: Monica Bîrlădeanu, Dorian Boguţă, Teo Corban, Luminiţa Gheorghiu, Doru Ana
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14 July, 19.00 | RCI London, free - please book your seat here.'DOMESTIC' (2011) - directed by Adrian Sitaru
Wonderfully surreal and painfully real, Sitaru's third feature explores the ups and downs of living surrounded by pets in a crowded apartment building. A bittersweet comedy, Domestic offers a hilarious and insightful take on one of man's oldest and most irresistible penchants.
"With no real plot to rely on, and no character ever explored beyond the depth of an amusing caricature, Sitaru's film moves forward on the strength of his abundant dialogue." - ScreenDaily
'Domestic' | Romania | 2011 | 105 min | cast: Adrian Titieni, Gheorghe Ifrim, Sergiu Costache, Clara Vodă, Ioana Flora, Dan-Cristian Hurduc
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All films screen in Romanian with English subtitles.
The Romanian Cinematheque is a permanent programme developed by RCI London in partnership with the National Centre for Cinematography (CNC) and Dacin Sara.
