Visual and musical spectacle in the last screenings of the festival
On Thursday, April 18th, 2019, Sebastian Stan will announce the winners of the contest Write a Screenplay for… at the closing night of the American Independent Film Festival. The gala will begin at 8:00 pm, at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului preceding the screening of Vox Lux, by Brady Corbet.
The finalists competing are: Florin Lăzărescu, with the feature Regulile jocului de smarald, Andrei Epure, with the feature Câini care latră de la distanță, Gabriel Molnar, who submitted the TV miniseries Eu și Dracula, Filip-Iosif Columbeanu, with the TV miniseries Departamentul 8 Securitate, Alexandru Molico, with TV miniseries Uruc, and Vlad Ghinea and Alin Boeru, who competed with the TV miniseries Balast.
The last day of the festival continues with a visual and musical performance. Exploring the spectacle of the modern world, director Brady Corbet tells the fascinating story of an ordinary teenager’s rise to pop-dom following a terrorist shooting at her school, which leaves her critically injured. Guided by her well-intentioned manager (Jude Law), Celeste becomes a symbol of celebrity cult and of the power of mass media, in a film about the forces that mold us as individuals, as nations, as deities; impregnated by a score comprising of original pieces by Sia and original songs written by Scott Walker. For Scott Walker, one of the most innovative and legendary composers of the 21st century, Vox Lux marked the second collaboration with Brady Corbet, and signaled the last score Walker composed before his death.
At Cinema Pro, The Mountain, by Rick Alverson, and starring Jeff Goldblum si Tye Sheridan, will begin at 5:00pm. Mandy, by Panos Cosmatos and starring Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough will follow.
The Mountain, based in the 50s, tells of Andy, a solitary teenager, who, following his father’s (Udo Kier) death, gets a job making photographs with Wallace Fiennes (Jeff Goldblum), a doctor specialized in lobotomy. Enacted by Tye Sheridan in a style reminiscent to Tom Hardy and Barry Keoghan, Andy discovers the U.S. of the 50s through the lens of his boss’ patients. Alverson’s excentric script boils until the revelatory climax of its title, in tune with its characters’ deepening into a Lynchian and Hopperesque visual plane.
Jóhann Jóhannsson composed, together with guitar player Stephen O’Malley from “Sunn o)))”, the score of Mandy, directed by Panos Cosmatos. Jóhannsson’s music and Nicolas Cage’s character are considered by Indiewire as being “at the center of a hypnotic cinematic experience that’s equal parts deranged revenge story and abstract study of grief.” Mandy tells of Red Miller, who lives isolated in the wild with his wife Mandy until cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roach) ruins his life. His revenge story is built via the “black metal, menacing ambient, doom drone, and piercing orchestrations in the mode of Italian experimental composer Giacinto Scelsi,” according to Pitchfork.
Preceding the closing screening, Diane, the debut feature from Kent Jones, who was last year’s special guest at the festival, will play at the Cinema Muzeul Țăranului at 6:00 pm.
Intent on continuing its humanitarian incentives, the American Independent Film Festival will donate all proceeds from ticket sales to Casa Share this year. Buy a ticket to any film screening in the program and you will contribute to the completion of Casa Share nr. 20, as well as to the construction of an educational Day Center, dedicated to children of families living under the poverty line.
Tickets to films screening in the festival of program can be purchased through Eventbook.ro.
The complete screening program is accessible on filmedefestival.ro.
Information concerning tickets and purchasing are available on
The American Independent Film Festival is organized by Asociația Cinemascop, with the support of Catena and McDonalds. Financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, and the National Center of Cinematography. Official Car: BMW. Partners: Athenee Palace Hilton, PepsiCo Romania, UPS Romania, American Chamber of Commerce in Romania – AmCham Romania, Boarder’s Shop, Crăci, CinemaPRO, Muzeul Țăranului Român, Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, Voodoo Films, Eventbook, Lokal. Main Media Partners: Pro Cinema, Radio Guerrilla. Media Parteners: Radio România Cultural, Agerpres, Zile și Nopți, Decât o Revistă, AList Magazine, Cinemagia, Newsweek, Business24, Nine O’clock, Senso TV, Glamour, The Institute, Ziarul Metropolis, Liternet.ro, Ziare.com, IQads, Smark, Film Menu, Films in Frame, ADFR – The Association for the Development of Romanian Films, AaRC – All about Romanian Cinema, CineFan, Cineghid, Movienews.ro, News.ro, Scena 9, Verbs Describe us. Communications Partner: PiArt Vision.