Following the acclaimed international success of recent Romanian documentaries, RCI London is launching Framing the Change – A retrospective of contemporary Romanian documentary film. The formidable and thoughtful selection of films is a premiere for Great Britain and hopefully, an enlightening, inspiring and entertaining experience for an international audience, festival zealots, cinephiles and everyone interested in Romanian documentaries.
The retrospective is a direct window into the Romanian universe of the past two decades, capturing the extraordinary societal forces which are shaping the country. Some of the themes are recurring in modern day society: the compatibility between religious and secular viewpoints, children who are growing up alone, while their parents have emigrated in the West or concepts on home schooling and education. Another strand is represented by films on topics connected to communism and the different ways in which the regime impacted day to day life. The programme also includes films that are personal introspectives into the directors’ life or that discover the history of a community, as well as films that define their authors’ work. The selection also reflects the variety of styles and approaches in Romanian documentary films.
Taking place from 26 April to 31 July 2021, Framing the Change is the result of an outstanding Romanian-British tandem: Astra Film Festival and One World Romania, two of the oldest and most popular Romanian festivals and Sheffield Doc Fest and Open City Documentary Festival, two of the largest and well-known British festivals have joined forces at the RCI’s initiative.
The retrospective will be opened by a panel discussion with Adina Marin (Astra Film Festival programmer), Andrei Rus (artistic director One World Romania), Cíntia Gil (director Sheffield Doc Fest) and Michael Stewart (director Open City Docs), moderated by Jonathan Romney (writer @ Film Comment Magazine, Sight & Sound Magazine, Observer New Review, Screen Daily).
The second part of the retrospective opens with a revealing focus on Golden Bear-winning director Radu Jude’s documentary work and continues with films by Corneliu Porumboiu, Andrei Ujică, Vanina Vignal, Laurențiu Calciu, Laura Căpățână-Juller, Mara Trifu, Adina Pintilie, Cristina Haneș, Dragoș Hanciu and Bahoi.
View the programme here.
