FILMS FROM BANAT
FILMS FROM BANAT
A fiction feature film and two feature documentaries, as well as eight short films are part of this year’s non-competitive program FILMS FROM BANAT. This section, which already has a tradition, aimed from the beginning to encourage and be a showcase for productions made in Banat or with subjects set in Banat and for filmmakers, regardless of age and experience, who work or come from the area. The screenings will be followed by discussions with the film crews.
Clara
Director: Sabin Dorohoi
Cast: Olga Török, Luca Puia, Ovidiu Crişan, Claudia Ieremia, Ida Gaza-Jarcek, Elina Leitl, David Rott
Drama – Romania/Germany – 2023 – 83 min. + 12
Language: Romanian, German
Subtitles: Romanian, English
Synopsis
Clara is a Romanian teacher working as a live-in babysitter for a family in Germany. When her son goes missing back home, she returns to her home village where she has to face her failure as a mother in her attempt to become a reliable parent.
Festivals: Cottbus, SEEFest
Thursday, July 18, 7.00 p.m.
Cinema Timiș
The run of your life
Director: Mircea Gherase, Lucian Mircu
Documentary – Romania – 2024 – 85 min.
Language: Romanian
Subtitles: English
Synopsis
Tibi Ușeriu, Corneliu Buliga, Eva Hochbauer, Toma Coconea and five more ultra runners set off from the North of the country towards the Danube, on Via Transilvanica, the longest and most beautiful uninterrupted trail from Romania, recently landscaped. 1.400 kilometers, over 30.000 m. elevation difference, in 24 days. A lot is going to happen between these two milestones which embrace a whole country (Putna-Drobeta) and ten reasons a day to abandon: the threat of bears and sheepdogs, getting lost in the night, endless races under the sun and rain, until the skin peels off, the nails fall, just like all the masks, eventually. No runner is a granted finalist. They all know that suffering is inevitable.
Friday, July 19, 7.15 p.m.
Cinema Timiș
Un mal rebel
Director: Bogdan Puslenghea
Documentar – Romania – 2024 – 86 min. +15
Language: Romanian
Subtitles: English
Synopsis:
The documentary follows Doru Chirodea, the most unknown poet from Timisoara, whose activity begins in the United States, in the second half of the ‘80s, where he is known in some underground, non-academic circles, in the niche world of zines and independent literary magazines. Back in his hometown, he makes periodic book releases, published in a DIY fashion, in obscure and ephemeral bars, but with a core for a certain local bohemia, on the way to extinction. The film calmly reflects on this end of a lifestyle that already belongs to another era.
Sunday, July 21, 7.30 p.m.
Cinema Timiș
Perfect Two
Director: Xandra Popescu
Cast: Ioana Iacob, Jon Kiriac
Drama – Germany/Romania – 2022 – 14 min. +15
Language: Romanian
Subtitles: English
Sinopsis:
An idyllic field trip, falling out, dashed dreams, the terror of mortality.
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
Sentimental Stories
Director: Xandra Popescu
Drama – Germany – 2023 – 16 min. +15
Language: Greek, Spanish, French, German
Subtitles: Romanian, English
Synopsis
An almost deserted diner in the middle of the port. The owner, Violeta, dreams of a life that could have been different. She employs her niece, Maria, a radical passivist who steers away from any drive or ambition. Between chores and cigarette breaks, they talk about the future. As the day passes, they witness one love story dying out while another is trying to be born.
Festivals: Venice
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
Two words, three lies
Director: Ioachim Stroe
Cast: Andi Vasluianu, Ovidiu Mihăiță, Andrei Butică, Alex Călin, Diana Spiridon
Drama/Comedy – Romania – 2023 – 22 min. +15
Language: Romanian
Subtitles: English
Synopsis
A team of forensic police officers films the reenactment of a murder, the hero of the video being one of the two defendants. Things start to get complicated once inside the victim’s home, when the defendant’s statement does not match the reality at the scene.
Festivals: TIFF, Gopo Awards
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
The Boar with Silver Tusks
Director: George Sorinca
Animation – Romania – 2024 – 7 min. +15
Synopsis
While hunting a mysterious boar, a man gets lost in the forest. He encounters more and more stranger things while his life is also being put in danger.
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
Claudia (Working Title)
Director: Adrian Sitaru
Drama – Romania – 2023 – 20 min. +15
Synopsis
An improvised fiction about a film crew wanting to make a movie with a homeless woman as an actress, end up under the guise of goodwill to tarnish the woman’s image and not truly give her a role.
Festivals: TIFF
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
We light a candle when the power goes out
Director: Iriana Adnana
Drama – Romania – 2023 – 20 min. +15
Language: Romanian
Subtitles: English
Synopsis
Alina came home without a notice. It’s the day before her little sister, Ioana, has an important exam. Throughout the day Ioana tries to reach their hospitalized mother via phone or text messages, but without a chance. The two sisters end up having a fight due to Alina’s peculiar behavior. Ioana decides to go to the hospital to see their mother, and Alina resorts to the truth.
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
Circus
Director: Ioan-Alexandru Sîrbu
Cast: Codruța Bonta, Andrei Mărgineanu, Ioan Crișan, Ioana Pitic, Eduard Crucianu, Tudor Jula, Ama Beschieru, Adrian Stancu
Drama/Comedy – Romania – 2023 – 20 min. +15
Language: Romanian
Subtitles: English
Synopsis:
A young psychologist, a recent graduate, is trying to find out why a group of acting students refuses to return to their classes. She finds herself in the middle of a Circus. The story describes, in a nutshell, the current situation of acting students in Romania – abused by their teachers, tired, frustrated and alienated. A short film inspired by ‘The Empire of Cats’, written by Alex Tocilescu.
Festivals: TIFF, Early-Bird
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
Still Life
Director: Sami Al Mouallem
Fantasy – Romania – 2023 – 3 min.
Language: No dialogue
Subtitles: No dialogue
Synopsis:
Following numerous futile attempts to finish a drawing and grappling with an inspiration crisis, a young artist channels her frustration onto a wooden art mannequin. As she dozes off, the scorned doodled mannequin seizes the opportunity for payback, orchestrating a cheeky prank on the slumbering artist. Revenge served with a touch of artistic mischief!
Saturday, July 20, 7.30 p.m.
Victoria Cinema
