Romanian cinema has undergone a renaissance in recent years - witness: 2007 Cannes winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days and acclaimed releases such as The Death of Mr Lazarescu, 12:08 East of Bucharest and California Dreamin'. Proving that these were not isolated successes and the industry has plenty of new talent breaking through, Romanian films picked up the best short film awards at both this year's Berlin Film Festival (A Good Day For a Swim) and Cannes (Megatron).
Curated and introduced by film critic and TIFF (Transylvania International Film Festival) director Mihai Chirilov, The Romanian Lesson features both these festival winners as part of a showcase of the best new Romanian cinema.
The films not only capture the spirit of our times, but also portrait a country in transition. Ranging from drama to comedy and faux thriller, the shorts are realistic slices of life, unfolding almost in real time and smartly hiding sweet, bitter or bitter-sweet social comments. Mihai Chirilov
Mihai Chirilov about The Romanian Lesson. (English version only)
Marian Crisan, director of Megatron, winner of the Palme d'Or for Best Short at Cannes 2008 will be present for Q&A after the screening.
Programme
- The Boxing Lesson (2007) by Alexandru Mavrodineanu A businessman from Bucharest takes his 12 years old son to boxing classes. But Vlad refuses to take the first training. To teach him a lesson, the father enters the boxing ring himself.
- Megatron (2008) by Marian Crisan Maxim lives with his mother in a village near Bucharest. It's Maxim birthday; he's turning 8. His mother takes him to Bucharest, to McDonald's. Maxim will do anything to meet his father who lives in the city.
- A Good Day For a Swim (2007) by Bogdan Mustata It's early in the morning and a 36 years old prostitute is waiting at a crossroad for the next client. A van stops and she's pulled inside. The vehicle descends on a deserted beach and three wild boys start playing adult power games.
- Life's hard (2008) by Gabriel Sarbu In one of Bucharest's endless traffic jams, a bag snatcher strikes up a strange relationship with his female victim.
- Waves (2007) by Adrian Sitaru A beautiful Western woman asks a Gypsy to watch her four-year-old child while she is taught to swim by a flirtatious married man. Then she disappears into the sea.
- The Yellow Smiley Face (2008) by Constantin Popescu A moving comedy about two parents who do not know anything about computers, but try to use Yahoo Messenger for chatting with their son in America.
The Romanian Lesson is a project developed by the Romanian Cultural Institute in partnership with FACT Liverpool. The programme was part of the Cambridge and Brighton Film Festivals earlier this year.
When: 2 December, 6.30 pm
Where: The Box, FACT, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool L1 4DQ
Admission: free.
