Romania, stories from the Black Sea
7 films
Alice On & Off
dir. Isabela Tent
dok2024
For 10 years, the film author observed the life of the film character who as a teenager gave birth to a child from her relationship with a much older man. The film is a story of subsequent disappearances of Alice – a sensitive girl and an artist looking desperately for her own way and fleeing from her demons.
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Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife (Arsenie. Viața de apoi)
dir. Alexandru Solomon
dok2023
The photo shows a handsome young monk with a mesmerising gaze. Even the portrait alone catches one’s eye, and the legend of his death as a martyr makes Arsenie Boca difficult to forget. Over time, the monk, persecuted by communist authorities, has become a symbol of struggle against the cruel regime and the chief Romanian miracle-worker.
Read moreBetter This Way (E Mai Bine Așa)
dir. Emanuel Pârvu
fab2023
Sixteen-year-old Adi is taken for a physical examination. He has obvious traces of beating, his face is lacerated and it is evident that he has been whipped. He does not say much. The police find out very soon that the motive behind the assault was his sexual orientation. In a small community, this is a reason to be ostracised, and for the family, especially his religious father, it is dishonour.
Read moreBetween Silence and Sin (Între Tăcere și Păcat)
dir. Diana Nicolae
dok2024
Can poetry pose a threat to a dictatorship? The poems written by Ana Blandiana outraged Nicolae Ceaușescu and his entourage, but they enchanted and touched her readers and literature afficionados, also from outside of communist Romania. The poetry of the legendary author crossed national boundaries, volumes of her poems were published in the West – yet despite many opportunities, she decided to stay in her country.
Read moreHoly Father
dir. Andrei Dăscălescu
dok2020
A child coming to the world provokes future parents to confront their own relatives. For neither of them is it easy as they come from broken homes. Paula has several cautious conversations online, but her partner Andrei, the director of the documentary, decides to set out on a journey to the monastery at the foot of Mount Athos. His father, who is a devout monk now, chose to live there many years ago.
Read moreThe Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters (O Tahtai. Savendar tai Seiandar)
dir. Catalina Tesar, Dana Bunescu
dok2022
A Roma group in Transylvania has a tradition that resemble aristocratic families', of passing on a chalice. The unobtrusive artefact may end up only in the hands of the male offspring of the clan. Problems with getting pregnant or giving birth only to daughters may lead to family conflicts or even pose a threat of ending the relationship. In order to avoid the tragedy, young women decide to undergo a sex-selective abortion.
Read moreToo Close (Apropierea)
dir. Botond Püsök
dok2023
He did not drink, came from a respectable family and attended Mass every Sunday. Only Andrea and her daughter knew that he was a man with a friendly face which concealed dangerous tendencies. When he ended up in prison, the residents of a Transylvanian village, instead of taking the side of the pregnant woman and her child, refused to believe in his guilt.
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