7 Cannes films to be seen only at LFDC
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest proceeds today with a special event under the Romania. 30 years later section. At Union Cinematheque, starting 18:30, there will screen On Christmas Day We Got Our Ration of Freedom, directed by Cornel Mihalache and Catalina Fernoaga and the feature film Videograms of a Revolution, directed by Andrei Ujica and Harun Farocki.
A debate under the same name starts at 20:30 – moderated by Alexandru Lazescu, which will entertain as guests Matei Visniec, Dorin Stefan, Octavian Ursu and the directors of the two films. Entrance is free of admission, subjected to availability.
Starting Friday, 18th October, the local editions of Les Films de Cannes at Iasi, Cluj and Timisoara begin, as well. In Bucharest, the screenings of the films of the tenth edition commence on Friday, in all six partner theater halls: at PRO Cinema, Elvire Popesco Cinema, Peasant Museum Cinema, Instituto Cervantes, Romanian National Museum of Art – Auditorium Hall and Union Cinematheque.
The opening ceremony of the festival is set on Friday, 19:00, at PRO Cinema, in the presence of the birthday boy of this edition, namely Vlad Ivanov, and filmmaker Claude Lelouch, who will introduce his latest film, Les plus belles années d’une vie, and who will stay for a Q&A session after the screening. On Friday, at Elvire Popesco, starting 18:00, Claude Lelouch will also introduce the film that brought him a Palme d’Or and an Oscar, Un homme et une femme.
On Friday, there will also be a discussion with the public at the screening of Hier, starting 20:30, in the presence of filmmaker Bálint Kenyeres and actor Vlad Ivanov, this time at Peasant Museum Cinema. Hier screens as part of the retrospective dedicated to Vlad Ivanov, with the occasion of his turning 50, entitled Ivanov 50.
Cinephiles will be able to join in on a more complex conversation with Claude Lelouch, on Saturday, 19th October, at Elvire Popesco, at the end of the screening of Les plus belles années d’une vie, moderated by film critic Ionut Mares, followed by the conference Débat des auteurs, which filmmaker Elia Suleiman will join, starting 16:45, for a discussion about the state of cinema in our days.
Les Films de Cannes à Cluj (18th-20th October) also starts on 18th October. The main Cannes prizes are to be seen at Victoria Cinema, and the opening evening will host actors Daniel Plier and Emil Mandanac, who will engage with the public in a discussion after the screening of the film Queen Marie of Romania.
Les Films de Cannes à Timișoara (18th-20th October) also commences on Friday, at the Aula Magna of the West University of Timisoara. Cinema lovers will be able to watch the Spanish classical comedy Bienvenido Mister Marshall, Dolor y Gloria, directed by Pedo Almodóvar, but also Timisoara. December 1989, directed by the late Ovidiu Bose Pastina.
Cinephiles in Iasi are invited on Friday to the opening of the fourth edition of Les Films de Cannes à Iași (18th-20th October), which will take place at Athenaeum Cinema. The event will start off with the screening of the documentary film Cannes, le festival libre, in the presence of Irina Maria Nistor. Then, the public in Iasi will be able to watch Dolor y Gloria, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, winner of Best Actor Award.
Among the must see screenings of this edition, there will also be Cannes films which have not been purchased by Romanian film distributors. The screenings at Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest are probably the only chance of seeing them on the big screen.
A Hidden Life, directed by Terence Malick, included in the main competition at Cannes 2019, will screen on 20th October at PRO Cinema and on 26th October at Peasant Museum Cinema. Based on a real event, the latest film of the famous American filmmaker tells the story of an unknown hero, one of the many left out by history. Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian peasant, refuses to fight for the Nazis, during World War II, he is accused of treason and sentenced to death. “A Hidden Life is a work of genius, at last a justification of Malick’s late style”, London Evening Standard writes.
Legendary Malick was present at Cannes three times and he received a Palme d’Or in 2011, for Tree of Life and Best Director Award in 1979 for Days of Heaven. “There is no other filmmaker alive whose work is the object of such overwhelming and febrile anticipation, fuelled by the long wait his most devout fans must endure for a new film. This happens partly because of the filmmaker’s devotion for a meticulous, authentic mise-en-scène, and also because of the secrecy surrounding his projects: a Malick film is much more than an event, it is rather to be likened to a religious ceremony”, one reads on Telegraph.
Chambre 212, directed by Christophe Honoré, winner of the Best Actress Award in the Un Certain Regard section, will screen on two Sundays during the festival, on 20th October, at PRO Cinema, and on 27th October, at Peasant Museum Cinema. After 20 years of marriage, Maria decides to leave her conjugal home. One night, she leaves for a near-by hotel, in room 212, from the window of which she has a perfect view of her apartment, her husband, her former marriage. As Little White Lies puts it, “Honoré expands the limitations of the genre with a fresh take that borders on the fantastical”, while Screen International deems it “unashamedly theatrical and unapologetically fanciful, it may not be for all tastes but casts a warming glow that should attract incurable romantics, nostalgic cinefiles and fans of writer/director Christophe Honoré.”
Sibyl, directed by Justine Triet, was part of the main competition at Cannes, and in Bucharest it will be screened at Elvire Popesco Cinema, on 18th October, and on 22nd October at PRO Cinema. Sibyl is a writer turned psychiatrist. The intense desire to write compels her to give up most of her patients. While searching for inspiration for her next book, a young actress begs her to taker her in as patient. “Triet handles the material gracefully and altogether skilfully, directing star Virginie Efira to one of her most impressive all-encompassing performances to date”, Hollywood Reporter writes.
Hors Normes, directed by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, closed this year’s edition of the festival on the Croisette. In Bucharest, it will screen on 19th and 24th October at PRO Cinema, and on 27th October at Elvire Popesco Cinema. For 20 years, Bruno and Malik have been living in a peculiar world, that of children and teenagers with autism. As part of the activities of the non-profits they each founded, they form young people coming from difficult backgrounds to be able to take over and manage ‘hyper complex’ cases, rejected by other institutions. “The Specials is a rare film that comes both from the heart and reality: it’s a potent mix which allows access to a hidden subject yet welcomes the audience in with grace and humour”, Screen International comments.
Nina Wu, directed by Midi Z and screened at Un Certain Regard, will be available to the public on 20th October at Auditorium Hall, at the Romanian National Museum of Art, and on 27th October, at Elvire Popesco cinema.
Nina left her family and her small town behind eight years ago, in order to build up a career as actress in Taipei. Her agent, Mark, insists that she goes to a casting for the main feminine role in a spying film, whose action takes place in the ‘60s. A difficult role, because it involves explicit sex scenes and nudity. The film turns out to be a great success, but her mental state is in free fall. “Traumatic memory is a powerful thing and Midi Z’s slippery plot digs out its roots, with this bold and tragic take on consent and abuse”, as One Room With A View writes.
Jeanne, directed by Bruno Dumont, winner of the Special Mention at Un Certain Regard 2019, will screen in Bucharest on 24th October at Elvire Popesco, and on 25th October, at PRO Cinema. Year 1429. The Hundred Years’ War wreaks havoc. Jeanne, invested with a spiritual war mission, sets the city of Orléans free and reestablishes the rightful heir on the French throne. However, she is sent to trial at Rouen, in an attempt to destroy her credibility.
Bruno Dumont directed his first feature film at the age of 38: La vie de Jésus (1996)m shot on location, in his native town, in Bailleul. The film honoured him with immediate prestige: it was selected at Quinzaine des réalisateurs and won a Caméra d’Or for best debut. Dumont creates raw, difficult, unique works. At Cannes, he returns in 1999, in the official competition, with L’humanité, which brings him the Grand Jury Prize and a double performance prize for the two amateur actors In 2006, Flanders, a brutal film about the devastation caused by war, he receives, once again, the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes. Cinema Scope writes: „Jeanne is the wiser, raspier relative to the spry and turbulent Jeannette…Dumont teaches us how to experience this quite verbose film: attendant to song, glances, visual patterns, and the animated body above all else.”
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, directed by Won-Tae Lee, screened outside the competition, at Cannes 2019, will be available on 21st October at PRO Cinema and on 26th October at Auditorium Hall, at the Romanian National Museum of Art. After they survive a violent attack of a serial killer, Jang Dong-su, a famous interlope, is compelled to form an unlikely partnership with a local detective. “As much fun as it is to watch Lee beat people up and strut around in shiny pinstripe suits, it’s just as much of a pleasure to watch him think it all through”, Variety comments on the film.
The complete program of the tenth edition of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is available on the site.
Today is the last day you can purchase tickets for 15 lei at 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.
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.
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, KLM, The Romanian Cultural Institute, Europa Cinemas, Hotel Mercure, SERVE, UPS, Eventbook.
Main media partners: Magic FM, Rock FM, Adevărul, Dilema Veche, Historia, TVR
Media partners: Radio România Cultural, Zile și Nopți, Elle, Observatorul Cultural, News.ro, Ziarul Metropolis, AaRC, Movienews, Igloo, Banchiza Urbană, FilmNewEurope, Cineghid, Cinemap, Agerpres, Liternet, FilmMenu.
Media coverage partner: Mediatrust
