To mark Israel's National Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv, in collaboration with the Jerusalem Cinematheque, organized, on April 18, the screening, for the first time in Israel, of the documentary film ”Occasional spies” (Romania, 2021), in the presence of its director Oana Giurgiu. After the screening, she will participate in a Q&A session with film critic Iris Lackner.
Synopsis: Based on real facts and testimonies, ”Ocassional spies” tells the story of young civilians recruited by British Intelligence during World War II and sent to their countries of origin in Eastern Europe (including Romania), to obtain information about the Germans. In the spring of 1944, the fate of many Allied pilots fallen in Eastern Europe was unknown. Thus, the MI9 office in Cairo decided to recruit agents among the Zionists who had emigrated from these countries to Palestine before the war. Their mission was to find the prisoners and organize a potential escape. The occasional spies found themselves caught between war, politics and personal life.
Filming took place in Romania, Israel and Slovakia. The cast of the film includes the actors Paul Ipate, Daniel Achim, Ioan Paraschiv, Mihai Nita, George Bîrsan, along with many non-professional actors - most of them from the team of Transylvania International Film Festival. The editing belongs to Letiția Ştefănescu, the image to Alex Gâlmeanu (photo) and Mihai Tănase (video), the sound design to Sebastian Zsemlye, while the original music is composed by Matei Stratan.
The film had its Romanian national premiere during the 2021 edition of the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) , furthermore it was awarded at the Astra Film Festival 2021 (Special Mention), in the Romanian Competition. The documentary was also selected for the 2022 New Jersey Jewish Film Festival.
The film was screened will Hebrew subtitles.
For tickets and further information: https://jer-cin.org.il/en/event/63673
