Beyond the screen: debates with and about the film industry
at Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest .13
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is not only about film screenings but also about important related events involving the top echelon of the international film industry. The AUTEUR CINEMA IN THE FACE OF PLATFORMS open talk is an event dedicated to film industry professionals and the general public, and aims to spark a discussion between filmmakers Stéphane Brizé and Cristian Mungiu, international film festival programmers Paolo Bertolin, Giovanni Marchini-Camia and executive producer Alessandro del Vigna about the state of auteur cinema and the effects the evolution of streaming platforms is having on it. The dialogue will take place at the Cinema Elvire Popesco after the screening of En guerre (directed by Stéphane Brizé) on October 29th at 16:00. Admission to the event is free, subject to seating availability.
Paolo Bertolin is a film programmer, critic and producer. Since 2008, he has been part of the programming team of the Venice Film Festival and has worked as artistic consultant for Locarno Open Doors from 2016 to 2021. In 2019 and 2020, he was co-opted to the selection committee of the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight section. He has collaborated with the Doha Film Institute and international film festivals such as Rotterdam, Beijing, Mumbai, Hanoi, Bratislava, Turin and Nyon – Visions du Réel and Udine Far East Film Festival. He is a member of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Academy and the European Film Academy. As a journalist and film critic, he has written for Italian and international publications, including Il manifesto, Cineforum, Segnocinema, The Korea Times, Cahiers du Cinéma, Positif and Senses of Cinema. He also has a career in film production, co-producing titles such as Phan Dang Di’s Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories (Vietnam, 2015), Amit Dutta’s Chitrashala (India, 2015) and Lav Diaz’s A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (Philippines, 2016).
Stéphane Brizé was born in 1966. He has directed nine feature films, including Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé, Mademoiselle Chambon (2010 César Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), Quelques heures de printemps and La loi du marché, the latter of which competed in the official competition at Cannes in 2015, winning the Best Actor Award for Vincent Lindon, who went on to win the César trophy. This was followed by Une vie, an adaptation of Maupassant’s novel of the same name, which competed at Venice in 2016 and was subsequently awarded the Louis Delluc Prize. His next film, En guerre, competed in the Cannes Film Festival competition in 2018. Several of his films explore the development of financial capitalism while showing the consequences for ordinary people. His latest film, Un autre monde, was selected last year in competition at the Venice Film Festival and became a box office hit after its release in France in February this year.
Giovanni Marchini-Camia is a member of the Locarno Film Festival’s selection committee for feature films, co-founder of Fireflies Press and film critic for publications such as Sight & Sound and Film Comment.
Alessandro Del Vigna is an Italian-Romanian producer and writer. He is executive producer of Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, which received the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. He is executive producer of Abel Ferrara’s Siberia, which received a Golden Bear nomination after its premiere at the 70th Berlin Film Festival. He is co-founder of the production company Fantasmagoria. He is a former film critic who has contributed articles and interviews with William Friedkin, Joe Dante, Bret Easton Ellis and Emir Kusturica to La Septième Obsession and Positive Magazine. During the festival, Alessandro del Vigna will introduce both Triangle of Sadness screenings on the programme.
După succesul de anul trecut al secțiunii WORKS IN PROGRESS, unde au fost prezentate proiecte ce au urmat o traiectorie festivalieră impresionantă (Alis, Anhell 69, Oameni de treabă, Vulturii din Țaga), cea de-a șaptea ediție aduce în atenția profesioniștilor din industria internațională a filmului un număr impresionant de proiecte: 17 filme de ficțiune și documentare, produse sau co-produse în România, toate aflate în faza de post-producție.
After the success of last year’s WORKS IN PROGRESS section, which presented projects that followed an impressive festival trajectory (Alis, Anhell 69, Men of Deeds, The Eagles of Țaga), the seventh edition brings to the attention of professionals from the international film industry an impressive number of projects: 17 fiction and documentary films, produced or co-produced in Romania, all in post-production.
The projects will be screened by programmers from prestigious festivals around the world: Hervé Aubron (Quinzaine des Cinéastes, Cannes), Paolo Bertolin (Venice), Lorenzo Esposito (Berlinale), Evgeny Gusyatinskiy (Rotterdam), Giovanni Marchini-Camia (Locarno). The projects will be eligible for prizes offered by Avanpost and Abator. The winners will be announced at the closing gala of Les Films de Cannes à Bucharest .13.
The audience will also be able to participate in a Q&A via Zoom (moderated by Călin Boto) with a leading European filmmaker. Lukas Dhont was born in the Belgian city of Ghent, where he graduated in Audiovisual Arts from the KASK & Conservatorium film school. His short films Corps Perdu and L’Infini have received numerous awards. Throughout his studies, he has focused on fiction but has also explored the possibilities of documentary. In 2016 Dhont was selected for the Cinéfondation Residency with his first feature-length screenplay, Girl, which combines the filmmaker’s favourite themes of dance, coming of age and identity. Girl received the Caméra d’Or trophy, awarded to a debut feature film, at its 2018 premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. With his second feature Close, Lukas Dhont was selected this year in the official competition of the prestigious festival and was awarded the Grand Prix of the edition.
THE ACTIVE ARCHIVE
The Active Archive is a project initiated in 2020 by UNATC “I.L. Caragiale” and carried out by the Centre for Pedagogy and Image Studies Sorin Botoșeneanu. The project aims to bring to the public’s attention Romanian archive films, after restoration and digitization. Here is a selection of seven titles produced between 1967 and 1983, which can be discovered at Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest.
Piscicultura
- Tudor Eliad, 1967, 10 min.
A comedy that starts from the lack of fish in the shops of the period and satirizes it in a succession of sketches featuring famous actors such as Toma Caragiu and Mitică Popescu.
Cântec
- Felicia Cernăianu, 1968, 11 min.
A fresh graduation film in which actress Cornelia Gheorghiu walks through the streets of Bucharest, accompanied by a chorus, a bizarre shadow or unpleasant memories of the War.
4 întrebări
- Șt. Traian Roman, 1967, 9 min.
Several reporters approach passers-by on the street and ask them questions, receiving more or less surprising answers.
To Be
- Petros Minopetros, 1982, 5 min.
Some young people are watching a film at the cinema in which the protagonist lies on a railway line waiting to be killed by the next train. Among the actors, Florian Pittis.
Antinterview
- Tudor Potra, 1983, 17 min.
A portrait of the caricaturist Mihai Stănescu, the film is an unconventional documentary, as it resorts to small comic scenes that highlight the playful personality of the artist.
Floramin
- Adrian Drăgușin, 1973, 3 min.
A young woman dressed in red pedals through the woods to the place where she is supposed to meet her boyfriend. Advertising film commissioned by Combinatul Apicol București to popularize Floramin honey make-up remover.
Familia
- Dan-Adrian Marcoci, 1976, 28 min.
A father and his four children prepare for the New Year. The story develops around everyday events, but something happens and the father will come to wonder if he is being too bossy.
On the same evening, at 7:00 pm, at Cinemateca Eforie, there will be a screening of Bing Bang, the first sound feature film made exclusively by a Romanian team, in the continuation of the Active Archive short film programme.
The festival evenings will end at LOKAL, where filmgoers are invited to discuss the films they have seen and exchange impressions with festival guests. Also at LOKAL this year there will be a HALLOWEEN PARTY and a Swedish evening. SWEDISH NIGHT offers a white night with cinematic thrills where you can discuss the films seen in Focus Sweden, a new generation of filmmakers following in the footsteps of Ingmar Bergman, distinct and original voices pushing the boundaries of cinematic language: Tarik Saleh (with Boy from Heaven), Ali Abbasi (with Holy Spider) and Ruben Östlund (with Triangle of Sadness).
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest continues this year its collaboration with Filminute, the International One Minute Film Festival that challenges filmmakers, screenwriters, animators, artists, designers and creative content producers to make the best 60-second productions. The 22 selected films will be screened as part of LFDC.13 from October 21st-30th.
Films are eligible for the Audience Award. To vote, visit https://filmedefestival.ro/les-films-de-cannes. The Audience Award winners will be announced on 30 October at the closing gala of Les Films de Cannes à Bucharest.
Films can also be voted for in the official competition of the Filminute Festival, on the website www.filminute.com, without this vote overlapping with the votes in Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest. The winners of Filminute will be announced on November 15th.
More about all the films in this year’s programme, long and short, can be found at www.filmedefestival.ro. Tickets can be bought online at www.eventbook.ro where you can also find details of promotions and discounts, or at cinema ticket offices and Eventbook box offices.
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest Festival is presented by Orange Romania, a traditional partner of the event.
Inspired by: UniCredit Bank
With the support of: Catena, Apa Nova, Groupama, Sun Wave Pharma
A cultural project financed by: The Romanian Film Centre, SACD / Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, the French Embassy in Romania and the French Institute in Romania, the Romanian Cultural Institute, Dacin Sara, Italian Cultural Institute, the Embassy of Sweden in Romania
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest is a project co-financed by the Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB within the Bucharest – Affective City 2022 programme. For more detailed information about the financing program of the Bucharest mayorship through ARCUB, please visit www.arcub.ro.
Partners: Renault, Mercure Hotels, Avanpost, Abator, Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, Arhiva Națională de Filme – Cinemateca Română, Universitatea Națională de Artă Teatrală și Cinematografică ‘IL Caragiale’, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, Europa Cinemas, Boiler Coffee Shop, Aparterre, Air France KLM DELTA, LOKAL
Main media partners: Radio Guerrilla, TVR, Agerpres
Media partners: Cinemagia, Zile și Nopți, Cinemap, Libertatea, News.ro, Films in Frame, Ziarul Metropolis, Film Menu, iQAds, Smark, A List Magazine, Igloo, Urban.ro, LiterNet, Elle, The Institute, Vice, Observator Cultural, AARC – All About Romanian Cinema, Movie News, CineFan, Munteanu, Cinefilia, CineGhid, Radio România Cultural, Senso TV, Tonica, Antena PLAY.
Cultural partner: RFI România
**The content of this material does not necessarily represent the official position of the Bucharest City Hall or that of ARCUB.
