6/5/2020—6/12/2020

Stuff and Dough

The Romanians: 30 Years of Cinema Revolution

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The “stuff” in this debut feature by The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu and Sieranevada director Cristi Puiu – one of the pioneers of the post-Ceauşescu Romanian filmmaking renaissance – is a satchel full of black-market prescription drugs. The “dough” is 2,000 lei (around $500) promised to small-town teen Ovidiu (Alexandru Papadopol) if he agrees to carry the package to Bucharest on behalf of a local gangster (Răzvan Vasilescu). He does, inviting his slacker friend Vali (Dragoş Bucur) along for the ride, who in turn invites his apathetic girlfriend Bety (Ioana Flora). This unlikely trio then takes to the highway – the hilariously deadpan road movie that results is a reminder that Puiu, who originally had ambitions of becoming a visual artist, has cited a viewing of Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law as a key event in his decision to pursue filmmaking. (Cristi Puiu, Romania, 2001, 90 min.) In Romanian with English Subtitles

Due to the postponement of the touring program, Making Waves has made more titles from this series available to stream. Visit makingwaves.filmetc.org for more information.

The Romanians: 30 Years of Cinema Revolution

A retrospective initiated by the Making Waves Film Festival & Cinema Projects

Originated at Film Forum New York (Nov 15-26, 2019)

Produced by Corina Șuteu and Oana RaduCurated by Mihai Chirilov, Corina Șuteu, and David Schwartz (Cinema Projects)With the support of the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Romanian Filmmakers Union, Dacin Sara and the Romanian National Film Center, Blue Heron Foundation and numerous individual donors