The Lighthouse, starring Robert Pattison and Willem Defoe – screened once more at the public’s demand
The second weekend of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest sets up busy days full of workshops and film screenings, among which over 10 award-winning films from significant film festivals – both film premieres to screen exclusively at Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest, and reruns of the most acclaimed films that have already been screened. At the public’s demand, there will be an additional screening of The Lighthouse, starring Robert Pattison and Willem Defoe.
On Friday, 25th October, the public will be able to see films by Xavier Dolan, Michael Haneke, Jim Jarmusch, Marco Bellocchio, Bruno Dumont, Arnaud Desplechin or Céline Sciamma – as well as a selection of short films made by former students of the film school La Fémis in France. The films will be introduced by Julie Tingaud, Director of Professional Development and Education, at La Fémis.
Starting 16:30, at Elvire Popesco Cinema, the workshop How to read a screenplay? is on, during which Cristian Mungiu, as well as the public, will start a dialogue with Jacques Akchoti, screenwriting and directing professor at La Fémis and with Nicolas Livecchi, professional film and television screenplay lecturer for Why Not Productions (France). The dialogue centres itself around a paramount question for the film industry, fir for all times and spaces: who are the ones who reads the screenplays and deem them apt for financing, whether one talks about public institutions or private companies? What is their education and what should the screenplays be like? Entrance is free of admission, subjected to availability.
Friday also holds in store a public encounter with Radu Muntean and Alex Baciu with the occasion of The Paper Will Be Blue, in the Romania. 30 years later section.
On Saturday, 26th October, the public is welcome to watch the two films that won the Jury Prize ex-aequo at Cannes this year, both of them in the presence of their respective filmmakers. At PRO Cinema, starting 18:00, Juliano Dornelles will introduce Bacurau and will stay for a discussion with the public, and starting 20:00, at Elvire Popesco Cinema, Ladj Ly will be present at the big-screen premiere of his film – Les Miserables.
On Saturday, there will also be the Golden Day of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest, presented, as always, by Renault, during which the public is invited to watch three Palme d’Or, Ours d’Or and Camera d’Or films from this year’s competitions.
Starting 12:00, the Berlin Golden Bear-awarded film, Synonymes, directed by Nadav Lapid, is scheduled into the day’s program. Synonymes tells the story of Yoav, a young Israeli, who arrives in Paris with the hope of having France and the French language save him from the madness in his country. While the New Yorker writes that “Lapid delivers a deeply personal rant in the form of a wild and reckless drama”, the Hollywood Reporter describes the film as “intense, feverish, unhinged, deranged, digressive, implacable, impressive”. The praising goes on with Indiewire, which deems Synonymes as “astonishing, maddening, brilliant, hilarious, obstinate, and altogether unmissable.”
Camera d’Or goes to the best premier film in all Cannes sections. This year, it is Nuestras Madres, directed by César Diaz, who was awarded this prize, along with the SACD Prize in the Semaine de la Critique section. At Cannes, Screen International described it as “an appealingly dignified, humane story of the repercussions of the little-known civil war in Guatemala in the 1980s as borne by the country’s women”. The screening will take place at Elvire Popesco Cinema, starting 15:00.
The golden film series ends at 17:00, with the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or – Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, “the masterpiece towards which the auteur’s entire career led to”. The film has been recently released in France and has gathered almost 2 million spectators, making it the highest-grossing film in history to ever win a Palme d’Or. A third screening of Parasite will take place on Sunday, 27th October, at the Auditorium Hall, at the Romanian National Museum of Art.
At the Q&A session following the screening on 20th October, Bong Joon-ho talked about the way in which he had to build up the film’s entire set design, from the modern house and the garden of the rich family, to the house of the poor folks and its surroundings, all located in a huge pool which he later flooded. “Just as water cannot flow upwards, the poor in my film succumb deeper and deeper and their social ascension aspirations are doomed to fail.” The dissolution of the family, initially united and happy, despite the poverty, is reflected by the communication crisis, which stems from text messaging, the wild Morse code.
On Sunday, 27th October, the public will be able to watch, in premiere, Chicuarotes, by Gael Garcia Bernal, and Frankie, staring Isabelle Hupert and Marisa Tomei; however, the public will be first invited at Peasant Museum Cinema, starting 15:30, to watch the one-minute long short films made by the young people who joined the Une minute de vie, une minute de cinema programme, which took place in six high schools in Bucharest, seen to by six filmmakers.
The winning films will be awarded during the ending ceremony of the festival, which will take place on Sunday night, starting 20:30, at PRO Cinema – when there will also a presentation of the awards for the best Romanian films under the Work in progress and Autumn Preview sections, as well as of the awards for the winners of the Filmminute and Write a screenplay for sections.
In the rest of the country, Les Films de Cannes à Brașov goes on, up until 27th October, at One Cinema, with a selection of the main Cannes prizes, as well as special guests. Les Films de Cannes à Arad starts today, at Arta Cinema, where, for three days, there will be screenings of films in the main selection on the Croisette.
The complete program of the tenth edition of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is available on the site.
Tickets can be purchased for 20 lei from the following locations: PRO Cinema, Elvire Popesco Cinema, Peasant Museum Cinema, Romanian National Museum of Art – Auditorium Hall. Starting tomorrow, tickets can be purchased for 20 lei each. At Union Cinematheque tickets cost 10 lei or 8, 5, 3 lei for subscription holders. Please be aware that a maximum of 20 tickets will be exclusively sold at the locations, 15 minutes before each screening.
Tickets can be purchased from Eventbook.ro, the Eventbook headquarters in Actor Ion Brezoianu Street 21, the Eventbook network and from the cash desks of Elvire Popesco Cinema, Peasant Museum Cinema and Union Cinematheque. More details about tickets can be found on the site.
Keep up to date with the latest news regarding the tenth edition of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest, on the official website filmedefestival.ro and on the official Facebook page.
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is presented by Orange Romania, a traditional partner of the event.
Official Car of the Festival: Renault.
With the support of: Catena, Apa Nova, Groupama Asigurări.
Inspired by: UniCredit Bank.
The tenth edition of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is organized by the Cinemascop Association and
Voodoo Films, in partnership with Embassy of France and the French Institute in Bucharest.
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is a cultural project financed by the Ministry of Culture and National
Identity, the National Centre of Cinematography, and realized with the support of SACD / Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques.
Partners: Air France, Institutul Cultural Român, Instituto Cervantes, Ambasada Spaniei în România,
POINT, Institutul Ramon Llull, Europa Cinémas, Hotel Mercure, Hotel Cişmigiu, SERVE, Bristot, UPS,
Muzeul Național de Artă al României, Cinelab, Multimedia Est, CINETic, Reber Film (by Cristina Juks),
Lokal, Freedom House Romania, Eventbook, Cărturești, Universitatea Hyperion, Universitatea
Națională de Artă Teatrală și Cinematografică I.L.Caragiale.
Main media partners: Magic FM, Rock FM, Adevărul, Dilema Veche, Historia, TVR
Media partners: Radio România Cultural, Zile și Nopți, Elle, Observatorul Cultural, Cinemagia,
News.ro, Ziarul Metropolis, AaRC, Movienews, Igloo, Banchiza Urbană, FilmNewEurope, Senso TV,
Tonica, Cineghid, Cinemap, Agerpres, Liternet, FilmMenu, Europa Liberă.
Media coverage partner: Mediatrust
