17-07-2012

FEATURES AND DOCUMENTARIES PRODUCED OR DEVELOPED IN ROMANIA, JULY 2011-JUNE 2012

By Iulia Blaga
    Tudor Giurgiu's second feature Of Snails and Men Tudor Giurgiu's second feature Of Snails and Men

    More than 20 features have been shot in Romania between July 2011 and June 2012:

    - Radu Jude's second feature, Toată lumea din familia noastră/Everybody in Our Family, shot in June-July 2011, produced by HiFilm Production (www.hifilm.ro) with the Dutch company Circe Films (www.circe.nl) and the Romania's Abis Studio (www.abisstudio.ro). The world premiere of Jude's film was in the Forum section of the Berlinale (www.berlinale.de).

    - Tudor Giurgiu's second feature, Despre oameni şi melci/Of Snails and Men, shot in summer 2011, is produced by Libra Film (www.librafilm.net) in co-production with the French company Agat Films & Cie (www.agatfilms.com). The film opened the 11th edition of Transylvania Film Festival (www.tiff.ro).

    - Mandragora Movies coproduced Daniele Vicari's Diaz - Non pulite questo sangue /Diaz - Don't Clean up this Blood shot partially in Bucharest in August 2011. The film premiered in the Panorama Dokumente section of the Berlinale, and is produced by Fandango Italy (www.fandango.it), in co-production with Mandragora Movies and Le Pacte France (www.le-pacte.com).

    - Nae Caranfil's Closer to the Moon, his first English language feature starring Vera Farmiga and Mark Strong began filming in September 2011, produced by Mandragora Movies. Closer to the Moon is produced by Bobby Păunescu and Mandragora Movies (providing most of the funding), Renata Rainieri of the Italy's Rainier Group, and Michael Fitzgerald of the U.S. company CTTM LLC. The film is co-produced by Denis Friedman of France's Denis Friedman Production and Allesandro Leone of Poland's Agresywna Banda (www.agresywnabanda.com).

    - Toni Trupia's Itaker, which began filming in Italy and Romania in November 2011, is produced by Michele Placido and Păunescu, through their companies, the Italian Golden Art and Mandragora Movies.

    - Family Film (www.familyfilm.ro), the Romanian company of producer Giuliano Doman previously called Tandem Film, produced Dan Chişu's Chasing Rainbows/Şi caii sunt verzi pe pereţi, together with DaKINO Production, in co-production with Panalight Romania (www.panalight.ro).

    - Bogdan Dumitrescu Dreyer began filming Condamnat la viaţă/So I Say with Gérard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel and Laura Morante on 12 September 2011, produced by Family Film (www.familyfilm.ro) and the German company Daniel Zuta Filmproduktion (www.zutafilm.de).

    - Şerban Marinescu began shooting The Charade, a romantic drama produced by Giuliano Doman and Family Film (www.familyfilm.ro) in February.

    - Bogdan Mustaţă's first feature, Lupu/Wolf (shot in Bucharest in fall 2011) produced by Romania's Strada Film (www.stradafilm.ro) in coproduction with Germany's Neue Road Films (www.neueroadmovies.com).

    - Austrian director Wolfram Paulus's shot Unsere große Zeit /Our Big Time in Romania between July and August. The film is produced by the Austrian SK-Film-und Fernsehproduktions-gesellschaft m.b.H. (www.skfilm.at) in coproduction with România's Libra Film Productions (www.librafilm.net) and Germany's Pinguin Film GmbH (www.pinguin-film.de).

    - MediaPro Pictures (www.mediapropictures.com) produced Jesús del Cerro's The Bride Was Stolen/S-a furat mireasa which premiered on 11 May 2012.

    - MediaPro Pictures produced Sergiu Nicolaescu's The Last Corrupted Man in Romania/Ultimul corupt din România, a sequel to Poker, the comedy that took the second spot in 2010 domestic box office. The film premiered in February 2012.

    - Ho Ho Ho 2: A Family Lottery, a sequel to the family film Ho Ho Ho produced by MediaPro Pictures and Alma Sârbu, and directed by Jesús del Cerro, is expected to open on Christmas.

    - MediaPro Pictures produced the romantic comedy Sweet Little Lies/Minte-mă frumos in November.

    - Jesús del Cerro shot Grandma/Mamaia, a comedy produced by MediaPro Pictures in April 2012.

    - Andrei Zincă, a director for TV series in America, shot his first feature in Romania in summer 2011, Puzzle for aBlind Man/Puzzle pentru orbi, produced by Vlad Păunescu and Castel Film (www.castelfilm.ro) and adapted from Argentine author Mario Diament's play Blind Date/ Cita a ciegas.

    - Dinu Tănase wrapped filming Portraits in a Forest, a police story produced by Alexandru Iclozan with Casaro Film, in October.

    - Adrian Sitaru (Angling/Pescuit sportiv, Best Intentions/Din dragoste, cu cele mai bune intenţii) shot Domestic, a tragicomedy about people eating animals and animals that love people unconditionally, at the end of 2011. Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan and 4 Proof Film (www.4prooffilm.ro) are producing with the German company unafilm (www.unafilm.de) and Titus Kreyenberg co-producing.

    - Spanish director Chema Rodriguez started shooting Night Falls in India/Anochese en la India/Noaptea vine în India, a roadmovie based on a script he wrote together with the Romanian filmmaker Cătălin Mitulescu, in late 2011. The film is a Spanish-Romanian co-production between Alvaro Alonso, Alvaro Suárez and Jaleo Films (www.jaleofilms.com), Chema Rodríguez, José Nolla and Producciones sin un duro (www.produccionessinunduro.com), together with Cătălin Mitulescu, Daniel Mitulescu and Strada Film (www.stradafilm.ro).

    - Cristian Mungiu wrapped filming on Beyond the Hills/După dealuri, which he produced through his company Mobra Films (www.mobrafilms.ro), in co-production with Why Not Production (www.whynotproductions.fr), Wild Bunch (www.wildbunch.biz), Les Films du Fleuve (www.lesfilmsdufleuve.be), France 3 Cinéma (www.france3.fr) and Mandragora Movies, in early 2012. Wild Bunch (www.wildbunch.biz) is handling the international sales.

    - Kinosseur and Elefant Film started pre-sales of Florin Piersic Jr.'s noir comedy Killing Time at the Belinale 2012, a low budget independent production between Andrei Creţulescu with Kinosseur Productions (www.kinosseur.ro) and Dan Burlac with Elefant Film completed in early 2012.

    - Marian Crişan (Morgen) shot his second feature, Iguanas/Iguanele in February and March 2012. The story of a 45-year-old rocker ready to do whatever it takes for the sake of his drug-addicted son is produced by Anca Puiu and Mandragora (www.mandragora.ro) in co-production with Marianne Slot and the French company Slot Machine (www.slotmachine.fr) together with Germany's Departure Films.

    - Peter Călin's third feature Child's Pose/Poziţia copilului, a contemporary drama focusing on the relationship between a mother and her 32-year-old son shot in spring 201, is produced by Ada Solomon and Parada Film (www.paradafilm.ro).

    - Tudor Cristian Jurgiu shoots his first feature The Japanese Dog/Câinele japonez in summer 2012. The film is written by Ioan Antoci, winner of the Krzysztof Kieslowski Prize at ScripTeast workshop (www.scripteast.pl) in 2009, and is produced by Tudor Giurgiu with Libra Film (www.librafilm.net).

    - Valentin Hotea's debut feature, Roxeanne, a HiFilm (www.hifilm.ro) production in coproduction with the Hungarian company Cor Leonis (www.corleonisfilms.hu), is set for shooting in September 2012.


    Many films started their development phase during July 2011-June 2012 after receiveing a production grant from the National Centre for Cinema (www.cncinema.abt.ro), such as Corneliu Porumboiu's A Nine-Minute Interval/Un interval de nouă minute, produced by Marcela Ursu and 42km Film (www.42kmfilm.ro) in co-production with Sylvie Pialat and Les films du Worso (www.lesfilmsduworso.com), set for shooting in October
     

    - Andrei Ujică's The Beatles project (working title), a feature lenght documentary of the New Nonfiction Cinema genre produced by Mandragora Movies in Bucharest, Mandragora International Paris and, possibly, Mandragora International New York, producer Bobby Păunescu told FNE, whose premiere is loosely set for 2014, and

    - Florin Şerban's love story Through My Veins/Îmi curgi prin vine, produced by Şerban and his new company, Fantascope (http://www.facebook.com/fantascopefilms).

    - Sorin Marin, a businessman and the founder of Anonimul International Independent Film Festival (www.festival-anonimul.ro), is developing his first feature, 7 of Hearts/7 de inimă roşie, produced by Alexandru Teodorescu and Saga Film (www.sagafilm.ro) and co-produced by Anonimul Foundation (www.anonimul.ro).

    - Tudor Giurgiu is developing Cristian, a psychological drama analyzing corruption within the Romanian legal system which he is producing together with Libra Film (www.librafilm.net).

    - Vlad Păunescu, the owner and CEO of Castel Film Studios (www.castelfilm.ro), is developing Live Queen/ Regina directului, his first feature film as a director, which he will produce with Castel Film.

    - Gabriel Achim (Adalbert's Dream/Visul lui Adalbert) is developing Raw and Cooked/Crud şi gătit, a political black comedy fantasy about the last days of Nicolae Ceauşescu produced by him with his company Green Film (www.greenfilm.ro), in co-production with Guillaume de Seille and the French company Arizona Films (http://www.arizonafilms.net/doomanpress.html). Shooting is planned for 2013.

    - Bobby Păunescu started the development of the first Romanian-Chinese coproduction, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, a thriller/love story set in the fashion industry, in May 2012. The film will be jointly produced by China Film Group Corporation (www.chinafilm.com) and Mandragora Movies (www.mandragoramovies.ro, under construction).

    - Iuliana Tarnoveţchi and Alien Film (www.alienfilm.ro) are also developing Magna cum fraudae, in co-production with the France's C-Story, a feature directed by Igor Cobileanski and planned to shoot in Romania, Denmark, France and Spain in 2013.

    - Ada Solomon, the head of HiFilm Production, is currently developing Double, the feature debut of Catrinel Dănăiaţă, which she is producing in co-production with Gabi Antal and Abis Studio (www.abisstudio.ro). Shooting is planned for the second half of 2013.

    - Răzvan Săvescu is developing his first feature America, Here We Come/America, venim!, set for shooting in Romania and USA starting December 2012. Tudor Giurgiu is producing for Libra Film Production (www.librafilm.net).




    The following documentaries were produced in the past 12 months:

    - Pavel Cuzuioc finished Digging for Life/Doina groparilor, a 55 min documentary he directed, wrote and shot for HBO Central Europe (www.hbo-centraleurope.com). Doina groparilor/Digging for Life is a Zenobia Film production (www.zenobiafilm.com), presented by HBO Central Europe Original Programming and produced by Carmen Harabagiu, Aurelian Nica and Andrei Creţulescu. The premiere was on September 29 on HBO Romania (www.hbo.ro).

    - The Bucharest-based young Serbian director Ivana Mladenovic finished Turn Off the Lights, an 84 minute documentary investigating the life of four 19 years old boys after their release from penitentiary. The film is produced by Daniel Mitulescu and Strada Film (www.stradafilm.ro) and premiered at Tribeca IFF (http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival).

    - Radu Gabrea finished the docu-drama Three Days until Christmas (The Last Days of Elena and Nicolae Ceauşescu)/ Trei zile până la Crăciun (Ultimele zile din viaţa Elenei şi a lui Nicolae Ceauşescu), a Romanian-Hungarian co-production between Tudor Şerban and Orion Film and Laszlo Kantor and Uj Budapest Film Studio (www.ujbudapestfilmstudio.hu). The world premiere was in the Romanian Days at TIFF.

    - Leonardo Tonitza started shooting a long documentary on the origins of the Romanian language, Niascharian (Let's Revive)/Niascharian (Să renaştem) in October 2011. Alexandru Iclozan is producing with Ro de Film.

    - Romanian filmmaker and director of ASTRA Film Fest (www.astrafilm.ro) Dumitru Budrala continued shooting The Last Shepherds/Păstoritul transhumant, a long observational documentary encompassing an ancient occupation. The film is produced by ASTRA National Museum Complex (www.muzeulastra.ro) and Astra Film Foundation.

    - Romanian Emmy-winning director Alexander Nanau is in production with Totonel, a 90 minute documentary about the education of a 10 year old boy growing up in an ill-fated neighborhood in Bucharest. The film is produced by Strada Film (www.stradafilm.ro) in co-production with Alexander Nanau Production. Outlook Films (www.autlookfilms.com) is handling the international sales.

    - Cristian Pascariu's first documentary My House on Wheels/Casa mea pe roţi is developed by the producer Iuliana Tarnoveţchi and Alien Film Productions (www.alienfilm.ro), with the shooting set to start in September 2012.

    - London based Romanian filmmaker Ilinca Călugăreanu started in 2012 the production of Chuck Norris vs Communism (www.chucknorrisvscommunism.co.uk), a 70 minute documentary focusing on the popular culture of the video cassettes in the last 10 years of the communism. The film is produced by Mara Adina and Dara Carroll together with the British Vernon Films Ltd (www.vernonfilms.co.uk), in co-production with Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan and the Romanian 4Proof Films (www.4prooffilm.ro).

    - Laura Căpăţână-Juller is about to finish her first film Here..., I Mean There/Aici, adică....acolo in the summer of 2012, an 80 minute observational documentary about two young sisters waiting for their parents to return from Spain where they have worked for 11 years. The film is produced by Alexandru Solomon and HiFilm Production (www.hifilm.ro).

    - Although still in post-production, Dan Curean's 80 min documentary Gone Wild had a special screening at TIFF (www.tiff.ro) in early June 2012. The story of the free horses of the Danube Delta, the film is produced by George Bucur and Fundaţia Arta in partnership with Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (www.ubbcluj.ro) and EMS Films (www.emsfilms.com).


    The following animated films were in preproduction or production:

    - Radu Dinulescu is finishing The Cernosaurs/Cernozaurii, a 70 min 2D animation film produced by the Romanian company Artis Film (www.artisfilm.ro).

    - The U.S. company Scenery Hill Entertainment and the Romania's Artis Film are coproducing The Stressful Adventures of Boxhead and Roundhead, based on the Australian animator Elliot Cowan series and directed by him, with principal animation beginning in June 2012.