The youngest Romanian Film Festival in North America Is ready for Its second edition. If you’re a local of, or plan a city break, the Twin Cities this weekend, make sure you put The Romanian Film Festival of Minnesota-St. Paul highest on your entertainment list. Co-produced and co-financed by the indefatigable HORA association and the Romanian Cultural Institute, the festival offers an essential collection of the most striking Romanian productions of the past year. Don’t miss the perfect chance to sample the seductive savors of one of the most creative cinemas in the world.
This year, the festival partnered with the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Society to offer to the public amazing films in state-of-the-art cinemas. The festival will take place between November 2-10, in person at The Main Cinema, 115 SE Main St, Minneapolis, MN 55414. All movies are in Romanian language with English subtitles. The festival is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute.
PROGRAM:
"Horia", November 8, 5:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
"Warboy", November 9, 3:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
"Where Elephants Go", November 9, 5:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
"Three Kilometers Until the End of the World", November 10:00, 1:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
More about the festival HERE.
HORIA
Friday, November 8, 5:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
108 min. Adventure/ Coming of Age (2023)
Directed by Ana Maria Comănescu. Cast: Vladimir Teca, Angelina Pavel, Daniela Nane
Original Language: Romanian. With English Subtitles.
Ana-Maria Comănescu’s coming-of-age drama talks about how we are sometimes obsessed with the finish line and ignore the small steps necessary to get there. After directing several shorts which traveled the world, Horia competed in the Romanian Days sidebar at this year’s Transilvania International Film Festival.
Written by the director,Horia follows the titular character, a 17-year-old living in a small village with his father, a mechanic. When Horia succeeds in passing his graduation exams, his father gives him his old Mobra motorbike (together with some life advice that stresses the generation gap between them), a gift that doesn’t impress the teenager at all. Following a fight with his dad, Horia will run away from home on the Mobra, starting a journey across the country to reunite with the girl he has a crush on. And now is the perfect time for the director to put obstacles in his path, which makes Horia an even rarer beast in Romanian cinema: a road movie and coming-of-age story.
WARBOY
Saturday, November 9, 3:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
85 min. Drama/War (2023)
Directed by Marian Crisan. Cast: Daniel Bâlis, Reginald Ammons
Original Language: Romanian. With English Subtitles.
Fall of 1944. World War II is coming to an end. The movie tells the emotionally charged story of a teenager who, in an attempt to save his family’s two horses, embarks on an initiatory journey, crossing the wild landscape of the Apuseni Mountains. With a blend of genres including adventure, war film, children’s film, and western, WARBOY is a movie for the whole family.
“I like to work with non-professional actors”, director Marian Crisan states. “I think this gives more truth to the whole film. I look for faces, for attitudes, for the sensation they give on screen when testing. I think that what I am trying to convey is that the story of this teenager from 1944 is universally valid, no matter when the war happens.”
WHERE ELEPHANTS GO
(original title: UNDE MERG ELEFANȚII)
Saturday, November 9, 5:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
115 min. Comedy/Drama (2024)
Directed by Gabi Virginia Sarca, Catalin Rotaru. Cast: Carina Lapusneanu, Stefan Mihai, Alice Cora Mihalache
Original Language: Romanian. With English Subtitles.
Whimsical, funny and touching, Romanian directorial duo Gabi Virginia Şarga and Cătălin Rotaru’s film nevertheless doesn’t shy away from difficult topics. Romanian directorial duo return to the spotlight, which marks a sudden change in their tone and has landed them a spot in as many as three sidebars at the 23rd Transilvania International Film Festival: the official competition, the Romanian Days competition and the Smart7 Festival Network strand and it will be presented at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival in November.
The movie seems to cater for an audience eager for a lighter touch than the usual bleak, drab and morose Romanian drama. By telling a story about three characters at a certain place in their lives, where they seemingly have nothing more to lose, Şarga and Rotaru’s sophomore directorial effort playfully points the finger at society’s expectations. The film also talks about how we lie to ourselves and to others in order to make life more bearable. “In case of problems, use fiction or wear a colorful, crocheted hat,” the film seems to say.
THREE KILOMETERS TO THE END OF THE WORLD
(original title: TREI KILOMETRI PÂNĂ LA CAPĂTUL LUMII)
Sunday, November 10, 1:00 PM @ The Main Cinema
115 min. Drama/Thriller (2024)
Directed by Emanuel Pîrvu. Cast:Valeriu Andriuta, Ingrid Berescu, Vlad Brumaru
Original Language: Romanian. With English Subtitles.
Actor-turned-director Emanuel Pârvu examines the fallout of a homophobic assault in a rural community from multiple perspectives. Set in a conservative Danube Delta community, a gay teenager’s journey of self-discovery clashes with the traditional values upheld by his parents and neighbors. This film was a Palme d’Or contender at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and took home the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival for best feature film. Emanuel Parvu films a sick and yet so ordinary society, entangled in beliefs from another time, shaped by the gaze of others and the fear of the neighbor’s denunciation, tortured by corruption at every level, right down to the gendarmes, more inclined to excuse the facts – and even seek to cover them up – than to find and judge the aggressors.
