One of the brightest lights of many in the Romanian New Wave, Radu Muntean, will be at the 6th Annual Romanian Film Festival in New York over the next week for a retrospective of his work and an extended discussion with Associate Program Director Scott Foundas.
Along with special presentations of his films, Muntean will present the world premiere of his new HBO documentary Visiting Room on Dec. 5. The film, which considers people who fall in love while in prison, is a careful look at finding new possibilities where none seemed possible. The director will answer questions after the screening.
Muntean will also introduce most of his features and he will be on hand for an extended discussion after the festival’s Closing Night film, The Paper Will Be Blue (pictured), his seminal New Wave work about the chaotic final night of the Romanian Revolution in 1989. He will also participate in a Q&A after Tuesday, After Christmas, his 2010 Cannes and New York Film Festival favorite about a man who faces an impossible choice between his wife and mistress.
Other screenings in the series include Boogie (2008), about a married man who unexpectedly revisits his bachelor past, and The Rage, Mutean’s rare 2003 feature debut that will be making its U.S. debut. It follows two young men with a debt to the Gypsy mafia and their ever-devolving plan to pay it. Co-star Andi Vasluianu will join Muntean for a Q&A after the screening.
Presented with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, the festival gets underway tonight with a screening of Romania's official submission for this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Morgen, followed by a reception open to all ticketholders. The Muntean retrospective begins tomorrow and runs through Monday. Tickets start at $8 for members.
