Inspired by real facts, the story unfolds in the remote Romanian village of Catane, where all the villagers declared to be disabled in order to avoid paying taxes. A dispatched inspection is about to establish the “truth”, only to discover an odyssey of unpredictable truths.
“We aimed to reveal an Eastern European story inspired by real facts and that was not depicted before. The film is an open poem, a multi-layered satire that unifies humour and sorrow, appearance and essence, archaic and modern rituals, rather than portraying them as opposites”, Ioana Mischie told FNE.
The Romanian cast is led by Costel Cașcaval, and the crew involves Romanian and Italian professionals.
The script was initially a graduation thesis from the National University of Theatre and Film “Ion Luca Caragiale” (UNATC) in Bucharest in 2011, and it was further developed at Berlinale Talents, Sundance Workshop Capalbio, Cannes Maison des Scenaristes, Les Arcs Films School Village. It won the Best Feature Script Award at The Manaki Script Lab in North Macedonia and also at FEST- Pitching Forum in Portugal.
Several top-notch professionals such as British script consultant and creative producer Alby James helped expand the script and make it attracting for trans-disciplinary partners from academia, art-house and commercial realms.
“This soul project has overcome incredibly many challenges to come to life. It took more than a decade to secure the needed resources, and we are looking forward to sharing it with the world by the end of 2025,” added Ioana Mischie.
Catane is a coproduction between Romania’s Studioset and Storyscapes, and Italy’s art house company Mammut. Ioana Mischie, Sorin Baican, Ilaria Malagutti are the producers.
The Romanian Film Centre, Italy’s national funding Mifec and Eurimages are backing the project, alongside numerous private investors. The budget has not been disclosed yet.
The shooting took place over 19 days in September 2023 and also for two days in September 2024, in a remote Transylvanian village in Romania. According to Ioana Mischie, “methodologically this is the first green film in the region, by securing a sustainable strategy of repurposing objects into a rare audio-visual fabric”.
The postproduction is currently being made in Italy and Romania.
Forum Film Romania will release Catane in Romanian cinemas, Ioana Mischie told FNE.
Ioana Mischie is an artist awarded for film, VR and pioneering transmedia concepts. Her films and scripts have travelled to more than 250 festivals worldwide (including Cannes, Venice Biennale, Palm Springs), were developed in top-notch programmes or received awards for innovative advancements (The Webby Awards, European XR Awards, Fipadoc Smart Award).
Production Information:
Producers:
Studioset Production (Romania)
Storyscapes (Romania)
romanianstoryscapes@gmail.com
Mammut Film (Italy)
Credits:
Director: Ioana Mischie
DoP: George Dăscălescu
Editor: Ciprian Cimpoi
Production designer: Cristina Barbu
Art director: Bogdan Ionescu
Composer: Emiliano Mazzenga
Colorist: Angelo Francavilla
Sound mix: Valerio Brini
Sound design: Ștefan Damian
Cast: Costel Cașcaval
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