The Romanian Film Festival is coming to Lincoln Center! After five successful years at Tribeca Cinemas, the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York is bringing the annual fest to the screens of the Film Society at Lincoln Center from Wednesday, November 30 through Tuesday December 6.
In addition to two in-depth retrospectives celebrating the remarkable careers of Liviu Ciulei (Forest of the Hanged) and New Wave director Radu Muntean (Tuesday, After Christmas), the festival will offer an overview of the latest Romanian premieres, a full shorts program, and special talks and events aimed at providing a more complex perspective on Romanian cinema.
Wednesday’s Opening Night celebration will feature Romania’s official submission for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Morgen (pictured), a charming fish-out-of-water story about a man in his forties working as a supermarket security guard on the porous Romanian-Hungarian border. The 7:30pm screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Marian Crişan.
The Closing Night film on December 6, The Paper Will Be Blue, will also be followed by an extended Q&A with filmmaker Radu Muntean and Film Society Associate Program Director Scott Foundas. Centered on the long, confusing night of December 22, 1989, the final night of the Romanian Revolution, The Paper Will Be Blue is one of the most important works of the Romanian New Wave.
In addition, the run of the festival will include a number of other U.S. Premiere’s and special appearances. On Saturday, December 3 at 7:30pm, the great Vlad Ivanov (of 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) will discuss his leading role in Constantin Popescu's Principles of Life. Then on Sunday, December 4 at 7:30pm, actor Gabriel Spahiu will participate in a Q&A following the U.S. Premiere of Gabriel Achim's Adalbert's Dream.
Finally, on Sunday, December 4 at 3:30 pm, Film Society will host a special 10th Anniversary Screening of Stuff and Dough, Cristi Puiu’s deadpan road movie that was instrumental in sparking the Romanian New Wave. The screening will be followed by a free panel discussion about the 10 years of the Romanian New Wave, “New Romanian Cinema: The Tipping Point,” moderated by Romanian Film Festival Artistic Director Mihai Chirilov and Film Society's Scott Foundas.
For more information on the 6th Annual Romanian Film Festival and all the films that will be playing, visit the series page.
