We’re thrilled to be sponsoring the 16th Romanian Film Festival in London: THE SEASON OF CONTENTION, 21- 25 October 2021, Curzon Soho.
Are you ready, film lovers? Film season is starting in one week!
Book your seats NOW.
Profusion is delighted to bring RFF back to the elegant Curzon Soho on Shaftesbury Avenue. If you are in central London this October (21-25), come and catch a film.
Radu Jude, ‘one of the most unique directors working out of Eastern Europe today’ (dmovies), features with not just one, but two of his award-winning latest films: Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) and Uppercase Print (2020). “That Jude is one of the most interesting Romanian directors is now a given, and not simply because he went from ‘Aferim!’ straight to ‘Scarred Hearts’, thus proving that, at this point, he can do anything.“ (CineEuropa)
For the past 16 years RFF has brought films in Romanian. Now, as a token of solidarity, we include films in Serbian (Ivana the Terrible), Hungarian (Tall Tales) and Slovak (Servants). Let us know what you think. These are powerful international co-productions about common history, family roots, friendship and trust. All films have English subtitles.
Romanian-Greek director Sarra Tsorakidis, Serbian director Ivana Mladenovic, based in Romania, Romanian-Hungarian actor Levente Molnár, based in London, and the Romanian actor of Lipovan origin Vlad Ivanov, are just a few of the artists whose cinematic work you can explore and enjoy this year. As usual all films have English subtitles.
In addition to the long feature films, we bring you The Romanian Shortcut - a carefully selected program of short features. On Sunday 24 Oct matinee.
We’re also privileged to include remarkable women directors in RFF 2021 with stories about love, grief, trauma and family life. Sarra Tsorakidis brings Kaimos/Sorrow, Maria Popistasu co-directs The Seagull together with Alexandru Baciu, and Ivana Mladenovic closes the festival with Ivana the Terrible. Powerful, thoughtful work. Fine humour, delving deeply into our experiences and emotions.
Outstanding award-winning Romanian producer Ada Solomon features in RFF 2021 with three exceptional recent productions: Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021), Uppercase Print (2020) and Ivana the Terrible (2019).
We're back for our first RFF live in-person events in two years, with international stars Vlad Ivanov (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; The Whistlers; Sunset) and Levente Molnár (Son of Saul, Sunset) who are joining us for the festival weekend. Live events to inspire!
Special thanks go to our generous friends - sponsors and supporters, to our tiny but fabulous festival team. And especially to you, film lovers! See you very soon,
Ramona & Mike
PROGRAMME:
RFF 2021 Opening Night shocker.
Bold, mesmerizing, shocking, brilliant. Absolutely must see!
Thursday 21 October 2021, 6.00pm
BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN (dir. Radu Jude)
Followed by Q&A
Drama, Comedy / 2021 / 106 min / in Romanian, with English subtitles
Note: Advised 18. It contains strong real sex, nudity, very strong language.
Co-production: Romania, Luxembourg, Czech Republic and Croatia
Romanian title: Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc
Starring: Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia, Olimpia Malai, Serban Pavlu, Andi Vasluianu
Golden Bear winner at Berlinale 2021
Released in UK cinemas nationwide on November 26.
Emi, a school teacher, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet. Forced to meet the parents demanding her dismissal, Emi refuses to surrender to their pressure.
Director Radu Jude (Aferim!) delivers an incendiary mix of unconventional form, irreverent humour and scathing commentary on hypocrisy and prejudice in our societies.
Graffiti hero exposes the systemic rot of communist Romania.
Friday 22 October 2021, 6.00pm
UPPERCASE PRINT (dir. Radu Jude)
Followed by Q&A
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8X-JfwyOQ&t=6s
Drama / 2020 / 128 min / Romania / in Romanian, with English subtitles
Romanian title: Tipografic majuscul
Starring: Bogdan Zamfir, Serban Lazarovici, Ioana Iacob, Serban Pavlu, Alexandru Potocean, Constantin Dogioiu, Silvian Vâlcu, Iosif Pastina
Based on the play ‘Tipografic Majuscul’ by Gianina Carbunariu.
Inspired by true events.
Romania, 1981. Ceausescu is in office, leading a communist Romania. He writes the official story with the help of the National Television. Mugur Calinescu, a 16 y.o. teenager, writes another story on walls with chalked uppercase protest messages against the regime. His actions are compiled in a voluminous file kept by the Secret Police (Securitate), which observed, apprehended and interrogated him. Linking both stories - secret and public - personal and collective - brings to light an unknown hero 30 years after the fall of communism.
“Radu Jude delivers historical reckoning by way of exhaustive Brechtian investigation into one story of state oppression under Ceausescu” (Variety)
Radu Jude for Senses of Cinema: "The worst thing that you can say to a Romanian filmmaker is that his film is not a film, but filmed theatre. So I wanted to make filmed theatre and to show that if you shoot a play, it becomes a film."
‘Iron Curtain noir’
Powerful drama about friendship, trust, treason and death.
Saturday 23 October 2021, 6.00pm
SERVANTS (dir. Ivan Ostrochovský)
Followed by Q&A with lead actor Vlad Ivanov
Film trailer: https://vimeo.com/531725794
Drama / 2020 / 81 minutes / in Slovak, with English subtitles
Romanian title: Servitorii, Slovak original title: Služobníci
Co-production: Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland
Starring: Samuel Skyva, Samuel Polakovic, Vlad Ivanov, Vladimír Strnisko, Milan Mikulcík
International crew includes actor Vlad Ivanov, composer Cristian Lolea, co-producers Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu and Tudor Giurgiu from Romania.
Beautifully shot black-and-white drama set in 80s Czechoslovakia, about two young seminary students grappling with Communist party control of the Catholic church, the Faustian bargain that enabled the church to avoid being shut down.
“Almost monolithically representing the Communist powers oppressing the seminary is Doctor Ivan (Vlad Ivanov, best known as the doctor in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, 2007), who fondles his stethoscope as he enacts state violence and wears a smirk that implies perverse pleasure. As with all of the film’s characters, little if any of his past is made known; the closest he gets to introspection is when he examines the worsening skin condition crawling across his torso and spreading to his arms.” (Thomas Flew, Sight & Sound BFI)
Versatile and polished Vlad Ivanov is starring in several other films currently available in the UK, on various platforms: on Curzon Home Cinema (‘4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days’, ‘Graduation’, ‘The Whistlers’), on Curzon Artificial Eye B O N G J O O N H O Collection [Blu-ray] (‘Snowpiercer’), on BFI Player (‘Police, Adjective’), on Mubi (‘Tony Erdmann’) and on Amazon Prime (‘One Step Behind the Seraphim’, ‘Sunset’, ‘Child’s Pose’).
About love, grief, family ties, fond memories and more.
Sunday 24 October 2021, 3.00pm
SHORTS PROGRAMME
Introduced by lead actor Vlad Ivanov
31 HOURS (dir. Claudiu Mitcu)
THE SEAGULL (dir. Maria Popistasu & Alexandru Baciu)
KAÏMOS (dir. Sarra Tsorakidis)
THE DEER PASSED IN FRONT OF ME (dir. Vlad Petri)
31 HOURS (dir. Claudiu Mitcu)
Short / Drama / 2021 / 20 min / Romania / in Romanian, with English subtitles
Romanian title: 31 de ore
Starring: Alexandru Potocean, Vlad Ivanov, Ioana Flora, Mihai Calota, Dana Rogoz, Ilinca Sava, Marc Anger, Florentina Nastase
Stefan is an overworked surgeon, who has just come out of a 31-hour shift. There is a last minute case and he is the only surgeon available and enters for one last operation before leaving home. Things do not go as planned. A series of deontological questions begins, in which the corrupt Romanian health system is under close scrutiny.
THE SEAGULL (dir. Maria Popistasu & Alexandru Baciu)
Short / Drama / 2018 / 16 min / Romania / in Romanian, with English subtitles
Romanian title: Pescarusul
Starring: Maria Popistasu, Alexandru Dabija, Paul Chirana
LOGLINE: Finding an injured seagull turns into a reflection upon the fragility of life.
SYNOPSIS : While temporarily hosting her ailing father, Laura finds an injured seagull in the backyard. Their newfound goal to salvage the bird is the perfect excuse to avoid talking about the real issue, the imminence of death.
KAÏMOS / SORROW (dir. Sarra Tsorakidis)
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/449265644
Short / Drama / 2020 / 28 min / Romania / in Romanian, with English subtitles
Starring: Maria Popistasu, Adrian Ciglenean, Victoria Cocias, Toto Dumitrescu
After many years of living abroad, Eli comes home...
The family reunion brings out old misunderstandings and unresolved differences.
Booze, grief and guilt arouse repressed emotions in Eli. Momentarily she loses control.
Layered, penetrating portrait of family ties, guilt and the role of traditions.
This stylish and dark humorous drama benefits from superb interpretation of lead Maria Popistasu (Tuesday after Christmas, Întregalde, Sex Traffic – Bafta winner).
THE DEER PASSED IN FRONT OF ME (dir. Vlad Petri)
Short documentary / 2020 / 27 min / Romania / in Romanian with English subtitles
Romanian title: Cerbul a trecut prin fata mea
“During the 2020 lockdown, my grandmother passed away. She was 90. Looking through personal archives I found an audio recording with her and a few photo albums. This film, composed entirely of photographs, presents a part of her life story, reflected in the context of the socio-political events that Romania went through in the XX-th century.” (Vlad Petri)
“A grandmother looks through family photo albums with her grandson... a moving personal account of the impact of two world wars and the arrival of Communism on a Transylvanian family.” (Bronwen Riley)
An elegant, noirish thriller. Outstanding performances!
Sunday 24 October 2021, 5.15pm
TALL TALES (dir. Attila Szász)
Followed by Q&A with lead actor Levente Molnár
Drama, Romance, Thriller / 2019 / 112 min / Hungary / in Hungarian, with English subtitles
Romanian title: Povesti Marunte, Hungarian original title: Apró Mesék
Starring: Tamás Szabó Kimmel, Vica Kerekes, Levente Molnár
International crew includes Levente Molnár (Son of Saul, Sunset), Romanian-Hungarian actor based in London.
1945, Hungary. Shortly after the end of World War II, when chaos and insecurity reign supreme in the country, a con man tries to take advantage of such confused times. Forced to flee Budapest, he's given shelter in the woods by a mysterious woman. He soon finds himself in a passionate love affair that may well cost him his life.
RFF 2021 Closing Night
About vulnerability, narcissism and troubled waters...
Monday 25 October 2021, 6.20pm
IVANA THE TERRIBLE (dir. Ivana Mladenovic)
Followed by Q&A
Drama, Comedy / 2019 / 89 min / in Romanian and Serbian, with English subtitles
Romanian title: Ivana cea Groaznica
Co-production: Romania, Serbia
Starring: Ivana Mladenovic, Gordana Mladenovic, Luka Gramic, Miodrag Mladenovic, Kosta Mladenovic, Zivka Sorejevic, Andrei Dinescu, Anca Pop, Daniel Cosor
Awarded Filmmakers of the Present Ciné+ Special Jury Prize at Locarno Film Festival
On the Danube border, drama becomes a comedy. Ivana invites friends, family and former lovers to play themselves & their emotions in a scripted version of the story of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
At times it gets extremely personal, with quite a few absurd and laugh-out-loud moments. Somewhere between documentary, drama and comedy, with remarkable Ivana Mladenovic, Serbian-born film director living in Romania.
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Organised by Profusion International (www.profusion.org.uk)
In partnership with Curzon Cinemas (www.curzoncinemas.com)
Sponsored by:
Prodan Romanian Cultural Foundation (https://romanianculture.org/),
Traduceri autorizate/Authorised Translations (www.translationromanian.co.uk)
Art in Conversation (http://www.artinconversation.co.uk/)
Remus Robu Solicitors (https://remusrobusolicitors.co.uk/
Supported by ICR London (http://www.icr-london.co.uk/)
RFF is a not-for-profit enterprise, functioning with the help of grants and sponsorship from friends and supporters.
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All films have English subtitles.
Screenings take place at Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY.
Nearest tube: Leicester Square; Piccadilly Circus.
Curzon Membership: Join our growing community of film lovers for access to cinema without limits. Choose between watching brand new films in our cinemas or streamed on Curzon Home Cinema alongside generous discounts, priority booking and exclusive member previews with our flexible memberships. https://www.curzon.com/membership/membership-sales-page/
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Twitter @RomanianFilmLDN
Insta @rofilmfest
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