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Tag: Illegitimate

  • Romanian Filmmakers at the Berlinale

    Romanian Filmmakers at the Berlinale

    The French daily Le Figaro has eulogized the film that has entered the competition in the Berlinales “Forum section, stating that the filmmaker has skilfully avoided being trapped by a biased film, he does not judge his characters and has made a provocative film. In turn, the film critic of the Cineuropa site has written that the spectator is lured into a convincing family drama, proving how easy it is to judge from the outside and how the perspective on things changes when youre placed at the centre of the story. “



    Filmmaker Adrian Sitaru confessed his film was a hybrid of docufiction and imagined scenario, as he improvised a lot when picking the sequences, with the clear purpose of being faithful to the truth and rendering the characters authentic experience. “Illegitimate, one of the most challenging Romanian films of the past years, tells the story of two brothers, featuring actors Alina Grigore and Robi Urs, and their illegitimate love story. In their family the boundaries between the moral and the legal have never existed. Here is Adrian Sitaru speaking about the feedback his film has got so far.



    “By and large, we have had a very good feedback. And I could say that our being selected for the Berlinale is due to the films French co-producers, who watched the film in an initial stage, that is almost a year ago, they fell in love with it and helped us a lot with the editing, they even found another international distributor. And they also came up with the idea of sending the film to the Berlinale. The fact that it was shortlisted took us by surprise, all the more so as we had not completed work on the film. Favourable feedback came from other sources as well, but our greatest joy was the selection for the Berlinale.



    “Illegitimate is a film where humour and drama blend into a tragicomedy about love (conjugal, brotherly, bodily), about relationships falling apart, about the choices we make for or against life. It is also a film about physical love between brothers, a taboo topic, a topic not much talked about, but on which there is a considerable amount of specialist research“. Thats how Adrian Sitaru presented his latest film “Illegitimate. Next Adrian Sitaru will tell us the story of his movie:



    It is a special project, it is not based on a classical screenplay, with written lines, I wanted the film to be more of a documentary. The formula, a hybrid between documentary and feature film was a challenge for me. I for one wasnt sure how the film would be. Actually, while working with the actors, I went through all sorts of stages. Some aspects were not working as I had envisaged and I had to come up with different solutions. Alina Grigore advanced the idea of a theatre performance with well-defined characters. The emotional charge emerged along the way. A friend of mine who saw the film compared it with a jazz piece, and I liked the comparison, because this is the way this film was made. Just like in jazz music, where musicians improvise, in my movie everybody contributed their creativity. My role was to stick to the narrative thread until the end. I probably took the story a little bit too far, to an area I was interested in, that of an impossible love, questionable from a moral point of view. Eventually all the pieces mixed well together and formed this film ‘Illegitimate. “



    Next Adrian Sitaru will continue the story of the atypical manner in which he worked for his film “Illegitimate.



    “The shooting was specific to an observational documentary, I suggested the actors to set themselves a certain goal and then to improvise. Thats how they tried to handle their own principles and beliefs, how they made their own choices. And I never imposed them to end a scene in one way or another, to say this line or that one. I think this is what happens in life, the first words one utters are the most authentic ones. That was the case of the film too. I thought that the first taking was the most precious. And actors were extremely credible.



    The cast of “Illegitimate includes Adrian Titieni, Bogdan Albulescu and Alina Grigore, as well as amateur actors of the InLight acting school such as Robi Urs, Cristina Olteanu, Miruna Dumitrescu, Liviu Vizitiu and Mihaela Perianu.



    “Illegitimate is Adrian Sitarus fourth feature film. His previous productions include “Pescuit Sportiv – “Hooked (2008), “Din dragoste cu cele mai bune intentii – “Best Intentions (2011) and “Domestic – “Domestic (2012). All these productions won important awards in leading film festivals. Adrian Sitarus short reels are also award-winning productions. The titles include Waves (2007), Lord (2009), The Cage (2010), The Party (2012), Art (2014), Trip (2014).



    The Berlinales Generation 14plus section also short listed Romanian filmmaker Roxana Stroes short “One night in Tokoriki. Romanian actors Iuia Ciochina and screenplay writer Ruxandra Ghitescu were shortlisted for the festivals “Berlinale Talents category, while the Panorama Dokumente sub-section included Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huangs docufiction “Hotel Dallas.


    (Translated by E. Nasta)

  • Romanian Films Awarded in Berlin

    Romanian Films Awarded in Berlin

    The refugee crisis was the prevalent theme of this 66th International Film Festival in Berlin, the first major event of the year for the cinema industry. Traditionally rooted in the current political reality, the festival is at the same time a platform for human rights activists to make their voice heard. While last year the grand prize went to “Taxi” by the Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi, this year it was an Italian documentary focusing on the refugees arriving to Europe that won the prestigious “Golden Bear”: “Fire at Sea,” directed by Gianfranco Rosi and shot on Lampedusa Island.



    Without off-camera commentary, “Fire at Sea” documents the parallel daily lives of the Italian locals and of the thousands of migrants who set out from Northern Africa, sail in disastrous conditions and many even die at sea, trying to reach the “promised land.” The Silver Bear, which was last year presented to a Romanian film, “Aferim!” by Radu Jude, in 2016 went to the French director Mia Hansen-Love for her film “LÁvenir” (The Future), which tells the story of a philosophy teacher played by the well-known Isabelle Huppert. But Romanians did not go home empty handed from Berlin this year either. “Illegitimate,” the fourth feature directed by Adrian Sitaru and presented in the “Forum” section of the Festival, won the award of the International Confederation of Art House Cinemas.



    One of the most thought-provoking Romanian films of the past few years, “Illegitimate,” which will premiere in Romania on March 18, tells the story of an illegitimate affair and of the thin line between absolute truth and hypocrisy. Adrian Sitaru himself told us more about it:


    “First of all, this is a film about a family with four children, two of whom are twins. It is also about an incestuous love affair, about life and death. I don’t want to give you more details, I wouldn’t like to spoil it for the people who plan to watch it.”



    The director also said a few things about how the film was shot:


    “After we presented the circumstances to the participants, we gave them the freedom to do whatever they would do in real life, and see what happens. We shot as much as we needed to, and then we edited the material, much like a documentary.”



    Another Romanian production, the short film “A Night in Tokoriki” by Roxana Stroe, won the special prize in the “Generation 14Plus” section devoted to young directors. The film is set in an improvised disco called “Tokoriki,” where an entire village celebrates the 18th birthday anniversary of Gianina. Her boyfriend is about to give her an unexpected present, which no one will ever forget.



    (Translated by Anamaria Popescu)

  • February 20, 2016 UPDATE

    February 20, 2016 UPDATE

    EUROPEAN UNION – British Premier David Cameron announced on Saturday, after a Cabinet meeting, that the date for the referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU is June 23rd. We remind you that late on Friday, the European Council president Donald Tusk announced that an agreement on renegotiating the UKs EU membership was reached. In his turn, David Cameron confirmed that the EU provided the concessions he sought, including assurances that the other nations wont try to make Britain part of a “European superstate.” According to the British premier, there will be tough new restrictions on access to his country’s welfare system for EU migrants. World leaders praised the deal, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the EU leaders clearly wanted Britain to stay. President Klaus Iohannis, who represented Romania at the summit, has said that Romanians currently working in the UK will not be affected by the deal, which only affects workers that will enter the British labour market after its enforcement.




    HEALTHCARE — The two foreign experts from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control who travelled to Romania on Thursday to help find the cause of an infection that developed in a number of children from Arges county, are now looking over the data that Romanian doctors have gathered so far, The National Centre for the Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases announced. We recall that three children died this month due to serious digestive infections followed by major complications and seven children are being further treated in a Bucharest hospital, having been diagnosed with the hemolytic-uremic syndrome. They are all from the Arges county and finding the cause of the infection might take months.




    PRESIDENCY – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will address Parliament’s plenary sitting on Monday. The President’s address, his first this year, will focus on domestic politics, Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu has announced. This is Iohannis’s 5th Parliament address since he took over the presidential seat in December 2014.




    LAW – The Romanian Justice Ministry jointly with the Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), the Direction for the Investigation of Organized Crimes and Terrorism (DIICOT) and the General Prosecutor’s Office are working on a bill allowing public bodies to further access private communications. The Constitutional Court has recently ruled that several provisions of an article in the Criminal Procedure Code violate the fundamental law, such as the ones allowing the Romanian Intelligence Service to tap suspects’ phone calls. Justice Minister, Raluca Pruna, has said that the bill will be ready by the time the Court publicly motivates its ruling, so that there will be no legislative gaps with negative effects on the ongoing criminal investigations.




    FILM – The independent production “Illegitimate” (Ilegitim), directed by Romanian Adrian Sitaru and produced by Anamaia Antoci, won the award of the International Confederation of Art Cinemas. The feature had its world premiere last week, at the 66th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. The film was selected in the Forum section of the event, which presented a total of 44 films in its main program, 34 of which were world premieres. At the same festival, another Romania director, Roxana Stroe, won the Special Prize of the Generation 14plus International Jury for the best short film, with “A Night in Tokoriki” (O noapte in Tokoriki). According to the competition’s website, “the jury appreciated the film for its idiosyncratic tone of voice and superb craft and storytelling. This film manages to playfully depict a heartfelt but urgent message. With humorous mise-en-scene, no dialogue and an ironic use of music, the film tells a brilliantly engaging story about unacceptable love in rural Europe and its repercussions.”




    HANDBALL –Romania’s vice champion women’s handball team, HCM Baia Mare, on Friday qualified to the Champions League’s quarter finals, after defeating, on home turf, the German team Thuringer HC, 38-27, in the main Group 1 of the Champions League. In the same competition, but in the 2nd main Group, the champions CSM Bucharest is playing Midtjylland of Denmark on Sunday away from home. The Romanian champions need at least a draw to secure qualification to the quarterfinals. At present CSM Bucharest is ranked 4th in the group tables.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • February 20, 2016

    February 20, 2016

    EUROPEAN UNION – British Premier David Cameron has said he will announce a date for the referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU later today, after a meeting of his Cabinet. The agreement on renegotiating the UKs EU membership was announced by European Council president Donald Tusk. After two days of talks in Brussels with other EU leaders, Cameron said the EU provided the concessions he sought, including assurances that the other nations wont try to make Britain part of a “European superstate.” According to the British premier, there will be tough new restrictions on access to his country’s welfare system for EU migrants. World leaders praised the deal, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the EU leaders clearly wanted Britain to stay. President Klaus Iohannis, who represented Romania at the summit, has said that Romanians currently working in the UK will not be affected by the deal, which only affects workers that will enter the British labour market after its enforcement.




    LAW – The Romanian Justice Ministry jointly with the Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), the Direction for the Investigation of Organized Crimes and Terrorism (DIICOT) and the General Prosecutor’s Office are working on a bill allowing public bodies to further access private communications. The Constitutional Court has recently ruled that several provisions of an article in the Criminal Procedure Code violate the fundamental law, such as the ones allowing the Romanian Intelligence Service to tap suspects’ phone calls. Justice Minister, Raluca Pruna, has said that the bill will be ready by the time the Court publicly motivates its ruling, so that there will be no legislative gaps with negative effects on the ongoing criminal investigations.




    HEALTHCARE – The haemolytic uremic syndrome in a 1-year old from eastern Romania, currently treated in a hospital in Iasi, has not been confirmed, Romanian health authorities announced. On Friday, the Romanian PM, Dacian Ciolos, and the healthcare minister, Patriciu Achimas Cadariu travelled to Arges County, in the south, where several cases of serious digestive problems had been reported among children. On Thursday two foreign experts came to Romania in an attempt to identify the source of the bacteria that caused the digestive problems in children. We recall that three children died this month due to serious digestive infections followed by major complications and seven children are being treated in a Bucharest hospital, having been diagnosed with the haemolytic uremic syndrome.




    UNITED NATIONS – Russia regrets the fact that the United Nations Security Council rejected its bid to halt Turkeys military actions against Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He has given assurances that Moscow will continue supporting government forces against what it calls “terrorists.” Russia considers such cross-border shelling that Turkey is carrying out as unacceptable, Peskov also said. Turkey has intensely bombed areas in the northern province of Aleppo, controlled by the Kurds, which it sees as responsible for Wednesday’s bloody attack in Ankara. Turkey has pleaded for the international coalition’s ground military intervention in Syria.




    FILM – The feature film “Illegitimate” directed by Romanian Adrian Sitaru has a final screening today at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film, which had its world premiere late last week, has received big hands of applause from the public and appreciative reviews by international journalists. “Illegitimate”, one of the most daring and thought-provoking Romanian films in recent years, tells the story of two brothers and their illegitimate love. The Berlin International Film Festival started on February 11 and runs until February 21.




    HANDBALL — Romania’s vice champion women’s handball team, HCM Baia Mare, on Friday qualified to the Champions League’s quarter finals, after defeating, on home turf, the German team Thuringer HC, 38-27, in the main Group 1 of the Champions League. In the same competition, but in the 2nd main Group, the champions CSM Bucharest will take on the Danish team FC Midtjylland, on Sunday, in an away match.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)







  • Rumänisches Kino auf der Berlinale

    Rumänisches Kino auf der Berlinale

    Auch in diesem Jahr feiert ein rumänischer Film Weltpremiere bei der Berlinale. Die 66. Berliner Filmfestspiele zeigen diesmal Illegitimate“, ein anspruchsvolles Familiendrama des Regisseurs Adrian Sitaru. Der 45jährige Filmemacher hat sich auf psychologisch komplizierte Themen spezialisiert — im Film Hooked“ vom Jahr 2008 erforschte er die Widerstandskraft einer Ehebeziehung unter hoher Stresseinwirkung, drei Jahre später thematisierte er in der Komödie Best Intentions“ die Verhältnisse in einer Familie, in der die Mutter gerade krank wird und 2012 untersuchte er die seltsame Nähe zwischen Haustieren und Menschen in Domestic“.



    Illegitimate“ setzt noch einmal ein Stück Dramatik drauf. Der Film handelt über den Witwer und Familienpatriarch Victor, gespielt von Sitarus Lieblingsdarsteller Adrian Titieni und seine vier erwachsenen Kinder. Ganz plötzlich wird er von einem der Söhne mit einem vergessen geglaubten Teil seiner Vergangenheit konfrontiert. Er soll offenbar im Kommunismus Frauen verpfiffen haben, die abtreiben wollten — darauf standen schwere Strafen. Das Thema Schwangerschaft und Abtreibung im kommunistischen Regime hatte Cristian Mungiu in seinem in Cannes prämierten Film 4 Monate, 3 Wochen und 2 Tage“ behandelt, allerdings aus einer ganz unterschiedlichen Perspektive. Sitaru reicht so viel Spannung anscheinend nicht aus — denn nicht nur mit Spitzeltum und Abtreibung muss sich der Zuschauer auseinandersetzen, sondern auch mit Inzest.


    Originell ist Sitarus Ansatz auch aus der Perspektive seiner Methoden.


    Es ist ein Film an der Grenze zwischen Fiktion und Dokumentarfilm, deshalb wurde er wahrscheinlich auch für die Sektion Forum der Berlinale gewählt — die Leute stehen dort eher auf Experimentalfilme an der Grenze zwischen Kunst und Kino“, sagte der Regisseur in einem Interview mit den Kollegen vom Inlandsprogramm.






    Stichwort Dokumentar: Im Programm der Berlinale läuft auch die Produktion Himmelverbot“ von Andrei Schwartz, eine Dokumentation über Gabriel Hrib, einen zu lebenslänglich verurteilten doppelten Mörder, der 2007 anlässlich der Aufnahme Rumäniens in die EU vorzeitig aus dem Gefängnis entlassen wird. Rumänien, dass sich seit seiner Verhaftung von Grund auf verändert hat, kennt er nur noch aus dem Fernsehen — doch er sucht mutig nach seinem Platz in der Gesellschaft. Der Regisseur Andrei Schwartz und sein Team, die Hrib bereits zehn Jahre zuvor während der Dreharbeiten zu Jailbirds — Geschlossene Gesellschaft“ kennenlernten, begleiteten den Ex-Häftling zwei Jahre lang in seinem neuen Leben.






    In der Sektion Perspektive Deutsches Kino der Filmfestspiele gibt es dann einen weiteren Höhepunkt mit Rumänienbezug. Vom Hamburger Regisseur Ronny Dörfler, Jahrgang 1984, stammt A Quiet Place“, ein 24 Minuten langer Film über angespannte Familienbeziehungen am Dorf in der rumänischen Neuzeit. Beleuchtet wird dabei auch das Thema Menschenhandel: viele junge Frauen aus Rumänien und der Moldau, besonders aus armen ländlichen Gebieten, gehen skrupellosen Schleppern in die Falle und landen in Westeuropa auf dem Strich. Mit Serban Pavlu, Madalina Craiu, Oana Rusu und Maria Obretin hat sich Dörfler die Mitarbeit echter Stardarsteller gesichert.



    Gewalt unter Jugendlichen am rumänischen Dorf ist auch das Sujet im Kurzfilm A Night in Tokoriki“ von Roxana Stroe, der in der Sektion Generation 14plus gezeigt wird. Die Handlung dreht sich um den 18. Geburtstag eines Mädchens, der in einer Dorfdiskothek nach allen Regeln der Kunst gefeiert werden soll.



    Ein rumänischer Star ist bei der diesjährigen Berlinale Cosmina Stratan — die 2012 in Cannes für die Rolle einer Nonne im Exorzismus-Krimi Hinter den Hügeln“ prämierte Schauspielerin spielt eine der Hauptrollen in der schwedisch-dänischen Koproduktion Shelley“. Stratan ist in diesem dunklen Horrorfilm Elena, die junge rumänische Haushaltshilfe in einer weit abgelegen lebenden dänischen Familie. Elena bietet sich an, als Leihmutter einzuspringen — aber die Schwangerschaft verläuft anders als erwartet. Der Film wird in der Sektio Panorama gezeigt.



    Ob auch diesmal rumänische Kinoschaffende den einen oder den andern Bären bekommen, erfahren wir in wenigen Tagen.