Romanian cinematography has received a fresh award at the Trieste International Film Festival.
Romanian director Cristi Puiu has recently received the 2017 Central European Initiative Award for his film "Sieranevada", at the 28th edition of the Trieste International Film Festival. The trophy has been awarded to a cinematographer capable of interpreting contemporary European reality and cross-culture dialogue, for the irony with which he presents the realities of present-day Romania, in his entire work, the organisers say. Cristi Puiu was the honorary guest of the festival, alongside the Russian director Vitaly Mansky.
Another prize in Trieste went to the Romanian director Adrian Silişteanu, who ran in the competition with the short film "Written/Unwritten".
Filmed in a digital format, in 42 days, and having a budget of over 1.4 million Euros, "Sieranevada" is Cristian Puiu's forth feature film. It describes the reunion of a family, meeting in a small apartment to celebrate the 40-day memorial of their deceased father, who is however hardly ever mentioned by the family members. The director actually confessed that the whole idea of the film emerged from his personal experience, after he attended his father's memorial meal. "It was not the first such memorial meal that I attended, because my grandparents and other significant people in my life had passed away, but it was for the first time that I was overwhelmed by the situation. When this happens to others, you look at the situation considerately. When it happens to you, you don't understand anything", Cristi Puiu said.
One of the best films in Romanian cinematography by far, boasting impressive photography and outstanding lifelike and sharp dialogues, "Sieranevada" was filmed exclusively in an apartment, except for two outdoor scenes. To render the film authentic, Cristi Puiu chose an apartment in a block of flats in Bucharest, which in reality had been inhabited by an old man who had passed away shortly before the shooting, a film aficionado, as his descendents later told reporters.
If "Sieranevada" enjoys great success in Europe, across the ocean, in the US, another Romanian film-maker has entered the race for the Oscars, to be awarded in February. Ada Solomon is the co-producer of a feature film titled "Toni Erdmann", directed by the German Maren Ade, running in the "best foreign film category". Filmed in Romania for the most part, "Toni Erdmann" tells the story of an eccentric father, a retired teacher of music, always making jokes, who decides to pay a surprise visit to his daughter, an extremely determined, career-oriented woman, who is involved in an important project developed by a Bucharest-based company.
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