Isabelle Hupert and Gael García Bernal – among the film protagonists of the weekend
The list of remarkable guests at the tenth edition of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest goes on with one of the most promising talents of Brazilian cinematography: Juliano Dornelles, filmmaker of Bacurau, which he co-authors with Kleber Mendonça Filho, film awarded with the Jury Prize at Cannes 2019.
Film Comment magazine headlines an interview with the two filmmakers: “No film in Cannes this year made it clearer that whether you see beauty or ugliness largely depends on where you steer your gaze than the audacious Bacurau, by the Brazilian filmmakers Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles.” Bacurau is an intense and complex portrait of a Brazilian community fighting against the dark specter of modernity. „A wonderful and demented Western about the perils of rampant modernization.”
Conceived out of the two filmmakers’ passion for Italian cinema of the ‘60s, American cinema of the ‘70s and, naturally, Brazilian cinematography, Bacurau is a blend of genres, a project started from scratch by the two directors, collaborators and, most importantly, friends. “We wanted to make a film in which we would rejoice seeing it at the cinema. We started writing a screenplay, we worked, we wrote, we talked, and we fought, then we gathered some other friends around to help us shoot it”, the two filmmakers declare in an interview they gave with the occasion of the premiere. It all took over 10 years.
Juliano Dornelles was born in Recife, Brazil, in 1980. For more than 16 years, he was a set designer. His partnership with Kleber Mendonça Filho started in the set of the short film Eletrodoméstica (2004). This encounter compelled him to direct, in turn, a couple of short film. Bacurau, made in collaboration with Kleber Mendonça Filho, is his debut feature film.
Juliano Dornelles will be present for a Q&A session with the public, after the screening of the film, on Saturday, 26th October, at PRO Cinema, starting 18:00.
The list of special guests of this year’s edition goes on with Albert Serra. The Spanish filmmaker will discuss with the public at the end of the screenings of The Story of My Death, Liberté and La Mort de Louis XIV, all of which are already sold out. However, the public will be able to join, subjected to availability, the open discussion at the end of the film La Mort de Louis XIV, on Tuesday, 22nd October, starting 20:00, at Elvire Popesco Cinema.
On Monday, 21st October, starting 17:00, at Instituto Cervantes, the screening of the collective film Lost and Found under the section What are our neighbours up to? Will take place – film which will be introduced by the co-authors: Nadejda Koseva, Cristian Mungiu, Jasmila Žbanić, Mait Laas and Viktória Petrányi, producer of the film made by Kornél Mundruczó.
On Wednesday, 23rd October, Vlad Ivanov, the birthday boy of this edition, will be present at Instituto Cervantes, starting 20:30, at the screening of Principles of Life, directed by Constantin Popesco, film that marks the first main role in the remarkable actor’s career. Vlad Ivanov will be present at the end of the screening for an open discussion with the public.
On Sunday, 27th October, at the ending ceremony of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest, the film Frankie, by Ira Sachs, will screen, film which was presented in the competition at Cannes 2019, one of the American films that made waves on the Croisette, Frankie being played by the ever iconic Isabelle Hupert. Ira Sachs’ films, such as Love is Strange or Little Men, are visually dazzling and emotionally moving chronicles of the loves, tragedies and triumphs of New Yorkers. With this new film, the director abandons the metropolis for a small town in Portugal and makes use of an international cast, embellished with grand names, such as Marisa Tomel, Greg Kinnear and Brendan Gleeson. “What a thorough pleasure to be in the company of Frankie, a film that feels like a sumptuous beach read on a lazy sunny afternoon”, one can read on RogerEbert.com.
Chicuarotes, directed by Gael García Bernal, will be shown on the big screen at Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest. “It is evident the maturity that Gael García Bernal has acquired, in terms of technique, plans, shots and story”, Excelsior writes. With Chicuarotes, screened, after Cannes, with just as great success at the San Sebastian Film Festival, actor and filmmaker Gael García Bernal continues to explore Mexican society and its inequalities, this time through a story about young people determined to do away with poverty and change their destinies.
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest started with full houses, premieres, special guests and discussion, on Friday, 18th October in Bucharest. Simultaneously, the editions of Les Films de Cannes at Iasi, Cluj and Timisoara also started. Les Films de Cannes has commenced over the weekend in Botosani also (20th – 22nd October), and this week, Les Films de Cannes à Brașov will begin, as well. Starting Wednesday, 23rd October, up until Sunday, 27th October, the public in Brasov will be able to watch the main winners at Cannes at the Reduta Cultural Centre and at One Cinema.
The complete program of the tenth edition of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is available on the site.
Tickets can be purchaed 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
