AIFF Bucharest partners with AIFF Kyiv – cancelled this year due to war
Tickets are now on sale for AIFF.6 – proceeds will be donated to Ukrainian refugees

The 11th edition of the American Independent Film Festival Kyiv, which was first held in November 2011 under the patronage of the US Embassy in Ukraine, was scheduled to take place in Kiev from 10 to 16 March, 2022. A tribute to American cinema, each year the festival presents a dynamic mix of feature and documentary films that speak of values, diversity and, above all, the power of free thought. Due to the invasion of the Russian army into Ukrainian territory, the festival was no longer held and AIFF.6 decided to include part of the Ukrainian festival selection in its Bucharest programme. The film C’mon C’mon as well as a series of Ukrainian documentaries, grouped under the title AIFF Kyiv Indie Lab will be available to viewers in Bucharest. The AIFF Kyiv festival team will introduce these films and will be present online for a discussion with the Bucharest audience. Ukrainian viewers will have free access to the two screenings. C’MON C’MON will be presented with Ukrainian and Romanian subtitles, and the documentaries are in the Ukrainian language and will be subtitled in English.

Joaquin Phoenix continues his Oscar-winning streak by delivering one of the most delicate and sensitive roles of his career in Mike Mills’ C’MON C’MON, in which the actor plays a journalist traveling the country for a new project with his young nephew. “This deeply honest film about children in an adult world is directed with extreme care” (The Guardian) and “will leave you with an extra glimmer of hope” (The New York Times).

INDIE LAB is a film lab for young Ukrainian artists working on their first or second documentary film project. During the two-week sessions, participants from different regions of Ukraine work on and edit their short films. Despite the fact that for some participants this is their first experience in directing and editing, their work in the lab has resulted in the creation of 10 documentary short films each year, with the support of filmmakers from Ukraine and the United States. The following short documentaries will be shown to the Bucharest audience: FOMO, BIRTHMARK, IN THE FIELDS, DIARY 1937, THE WONDERFUL YEARS and SAVE ME DOCTOR.

For its 6th edition, the American Independent Film Festival shows its solidarity with the Ukrainian people by donating all ticket proceeds to NGOs that support Ukrainian refugees and their pets. Tickets are available online starting today at Eventbook.ro! 

A great author of European cinema helps us better understand the turbulent historical period we are going through. Ukrainian Sergei Loznitsa has made 11 documentaries since 1996, winning numerous international and national awards. His documentary Blockade (2005) is based on archive footage from a besieged Leningrad during World War II. In 2010, his first feature-length fiction film, My Joy, was screened in the official competition at Cannes, where it won the Best Director award. His second fiction, In the Fog (with Oleg Mutu’s sublime cinematography), was also selected for the official competition. In 2014, he returned to documentary with the acclaimed MAIDAN, about his people’s struggle for freedom, and in 2018 his docu-drama Donbass was selected in Un Certain Regard. Through his filmography, the director has managed to examine many difficult and conflicting moments in the Soviet and post-Soviet history of the Baltic states. “Whether fiction, observational documentary or collage of archival material, his work is concerned with how individuality is usurped by the masses or how these collective bodies are handled throughout history. In his documentaries, Loznitsa reiterates the thesis that recorded events will always resist a linear narrative.” – Mubi.com

Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square in Kyiv that gave its name to the massive anti-government demonstrations in 2013 and 2014 that eventually toppled the Ukrainian political regime. “With MAIDAN, Loznitsa offers something that, these days, is rare and precious: a foregrounded rendering of history that doesn’t have the breaking news label posted all over it,” writes The Observer, while The Times describes it as “deeply moving, atmospheric and, at times, even hauntingly beautiful”. The joy of freedom the filmmaker documents was quickly overshadowed by what follows: the Russian annexation of Crimea, the carnage in the east, the clashes in Odessa where dozens died, the perfidious Putin-led war that culminated in the recent invasion. In one way or another, all these events were triggered by the passionate demonstrations in Maidan Square. An important documentary to revisit now, 8 years after its release, because it succeeds in putting a human face on today’s conflict that is devastating not only Ukraine but the world. The screening will be followed by a discussion moderated by Sorin Ionita (Expert Forum Association) on the current situation in Ukraine.

An unexpected combination of deeply personal film and experimental documentary, Ricky D’Ambrose’s THE CATHEDRAL, directed by Ricky D’Ambrose and recently awarded the prestigious Hollywood Foreign Press Award, is the meditative, impressionistic story of a single child observing the rise and fall of his American family over two decades. “The Cathedral,” says Vox, “is a film like a seemingly unassuming but stunningly rich jewel box full of images that form the memories of the main character, Jesse (played by various actors as a child and young man),” while rogerebert.com points out that “D’Ambrose clearly has a confident directorial voice and manages to create a family drama that unfolds before our eyes almost like a memory.“

In DOWN WITH THE KING (directed by Diego Ongaro), which took the Special Grand Prize at the Deauville Film Festival, rap star Money Merc is sent by Paul, his manager, to a rural home in the Berkshires to concentrate on his next album. Disillusioned with his rap career and what modern fame means, Merc has no desire to write or record music. Instead, he spends most of his time on his neighbor’s farm learning about farming and enjoying the simplicity of country life. After Merc abruptly announces his retirement from Twitter, Paul sets out to lure him back into the music industry. “The harmony of emotions and imagery is what makes Down with the King a complete track. Each part of the film compliments the other. But in the end, the film remains as humble as its lead character,” The Playlist believes, while the Ioncinema.com website writes that the film is an “original story about awkward transitions in artistic and coming-of-age terrain. Gibbs shines in this searing portrait of a defensive musician who isn’t sure he wants to keep gangsta rapping and retreats into the wilderness to regain his composure.”

Multi-award-winning writer/director Justin Chon is the author of BLUE BAYOU, a poignant and highly topical story about a unique American family fighting for its future. Antonio LeBlanc (Chon), a Korean adoptee raised in small-town Bayou, Louisiana, is married to Kathy (played by 2016 Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander), the love of his life, and is stepfather to Jessie. As he tries to provide a better life for his loved ones, he must confront the ghosts of the past when he discovers he may be deported from the only country he has ever called home. RealTalk.inc says the film, selected for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, is “a must-see. It’s an extremely grounded perspective on the current state of the immigration system in this country.” “What Blue Bayou succeeds superbly in its subtle moments is to illustrate that being Asian is not a single identity, but a vast tapestry of different cultures,” wrote The Playlist.

I WAS A SIMPLE MAN (directed by Christopher Makoto Yogi) tells the quintessential story of a man confronted with his own mortality, whose deceptively simple approach brings rich and melancholy rewards. American critics have gloated, calling it “a twilight, unsettling portrait of a sickly old patriarch” (LA Times) or “a 100-minute spell of beauty and melancholy, at once intimate and grand” (Roger Ebert).

Because it depicts the refugee experience through vivid animation, FLEE (by Jonas Poher Rasmussen) pushes the boundaries of documentary to present a journey of self-discovery. The reason it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary is, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, that it achieves a remarkable feat: “it tackles a difficult subject and tells it in a very compelling way“. “Sometimes a film is so powerful, you find yourself telling everyone to go see it. That’s exactly what I felt like doing after screening Flee,” writes the Jerusalem Post.

Too often, cinema becomes synonymous with spectacle, with glossy, noisy blockbusters, with money-making machines for big audiences. It’s often forgotten that audience films are not only maximalist and bombastic, but also intimate and profound when they speak to themes we all resonate with. What else is E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL, a masterpiece that turns 40 this year, than a great little story about a little boy and his strange friend from another world? But without Steven Spielberg’s mythical alien creature, the world would be a little sadder and more cynical. In the midst of such a troubled reality, American Independent Film Festival .6 invites you to take a break of innocence. Together, we’ll rediscover how important friendship and acceptance of differences are. E.T., which has encapsulated cinematic magic for generations, is worth seeing again and again, because each time it’s like watching it for the first time: suddenly we’re little again, in front of the screen, trying, with maturity, to hold back tears until we see one in our parents’ eyes. Throughout the times, the film has kept that pure sense of wonder intact, but also the power of imagination and heartbreaking honesty. A fantastical fable about the pain of growing up and the decision to let go of what you love, Spielberg’s film is as affecting today as it was four decades ago because it speaks to what we all lose: the candour of childhood.

The programme of the only festival in Romania that prioritizes American independent filmmaking outside the major studios includes films that have made history, films inspired by history and films that will make history. You can see them all on the big screens at the Elvire Popesco Cinema, and the Peasant Museum Cinema from April 15th to 21st. Tickets are available from today online at eventbook.ro.

All proceeds from ticket sales at AIFF.6 will be donated to Save the Dogs and Other Animals run by Sara Turetta. The association is the first NGO of its kind in the animal protection sector in Romania and is actively involved in supporting Ukrainian refugee families crossing into Romania through the Isaccea border point. In addition to working closely with local NGOs to receive refugees and provide them with basic necessities, the association helps them find pet-friendly accommodation, provide pet food, supplies and transport logistics.

Proceeds obtained from the Warm-up that AIFF is organising between April 16th-17th at the Victoria Cinema in Cluj-Napoca will go to the Expert Forum Association led by Sorin Ionita. The organisation is involved in helping the citizens of Odessa and Chernivtsi, organising aid transports collected through voluntary contributions to people in need in neighbouring Romania.

All the details about the two organisations, how you can donate directly, as well as the AIFF.6 program and tickets are available on filmedefestival.ro!

Organised by the Cinemascop Association, AIFF.6 is a cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration*, with the support of the Embassy of the United States of America in Romania** and the Union of Romanian Film and Audiovisual Producers – Romanian Association for the Management of Audiovisual Works.
Supported by: Banca Transilvania

Partners: Romanian Cultural Institute, Fortech, Europa Cinemas, French Institute in Romania, Elvire Popesco Cinema, Romanian Peasant Museum, Peasant Museum Cinema, Apollo 111, Eventbook, Voodoo Films.

Co-organised by Multi Media Est

Main Media Partners: Radio Guerrilla, AGERPRES.

Media Partners: Zile și Nopți, Cinemap, Film Menu, Ziarul Metropolis, LiterNet, Movie News, IQ Ads, Smark, Films in Frame, The Institute, CineGhid, Munteanu Recomandă, AARC – All About Romanian Cinema, Radio România Cultural

*The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or the way the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the grantee.
**This project is funded in part by a grant from the US Department of State. The opinions, findings, and conclusions presented during the project are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.

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