20-04-2022

PRODUCTION: Romania/French Coproduction Metronom

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    Metronom by Alexandru Belc Metronom by Alexandru Belc credit: Strada Film International

    BUCHAREST: Romanian director Alexandru Belc's debut feature Metronom has been selected for Cannes Un Certian Regard. The film is a teenage love story set in Romania of the 70s, when the music from Radio Free Europe was providing some kind of freedom for the youth caught up in a progressively oppressive regime. The film is a Romanian/French coproduction, produced by Catalin Mitulescu through Strada Film International in coproduction with France’s Midralgar and Romania’s Chainsaw Europe.

    The story written by Alexandru Belc is using personal stories and facts found in the files of the Secret Police (Securitate), and it revolves around a group of young people who are arrested for writing to Cornel Chiriac and his famous music radio show Metronom at the Radio Free Europe in 1972.

    “I see myself as a mediator between the young generation of the 70 and the young generation of today. I wanted to make a film for the younger generation of today and to find a modern language that could tell the story. I kept myself distanced from the visual clichés of Communism and I used a lot from the music of these times not only for the atmosphere, but also for dramaturgic purposes”, Alexandru Belc told FNE.

    The main characters are played by young newcomers alongside established actors: Mara Bugarin, Șerban Lazarovici, Vlad Ivanov, Mara Vicol, Mihai Călin, Andreea Bibiri among others.

    Tudor Vladimir Panduru is lensing. Actually, both of the Romanian films from the Cannes’s Official Selection 2022 – Metronom and Cristian Mungiu’s R.M.N., produced by Mobra Films, coproduced by Why Not Productions, Wild Bunch International, France 3 Cinéma, Le Pacte, Les Films du Fleuve, Filmgate Films, Film i Väst, have been shot by Panduru.

    Metronom was filmed during 20 days in the month of May 2021, in Bucharest. The budget was approximately 1 m EUR, representatives of Strada Film International told FNE.

    The sales agent will be announced soon. The Romanian distributor and the date of Romanian theatrical release have not been decided yet.

    Born in 1980, Alexandru Belc studied film directing and he also has an M.A. in political sciences. Up until now, he made short films and documentaries including Cinema, mon amour (2015), which was nominated for the Gopo Awards in the Best Documentary category.

    Production Information:

    Producer:
    Strada Film International (Romania)
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    Coproducers:
    Midralgar (France)
    Chainsaw Europe (Romania)

    Credits:
    Director: Alexandru Belc
    Scriptwriter: Alexandru Belc
    DoP: Tudor Vladimir Panduru
    Editor: Patricia Chelaru
    Production designer: Bogdan Ionescu
    Costume designer: Ioana Covalciuc
    Cast: Mara Bugarin, Șerban Lazarovici, Vlad Ivanov, Mara Vicol, Mihai Călin, Andreea Bibiri