Romanian realities writ large on big screen

Newsroom 26/11/2014 | 17:07

Poarta Alba / White Gate, directed by Nicolae Margineanu, continues filmmakers’ investigation of the communist era. Margineanu presents a feature about the concentration camp at Poarta Alba and the construction of the Danube-Black Sea canal. The plot follows three students (Cristian Bota, Sergiu Bucur and Madalina Craiu) caught while trying to cross the Danube, two of whom are sent to the notorious camp. The movie was released in Romania on October 17.

Short film Calea Dunarii / Way of the Danube, directed by Sabin Dorohoi, tells the tale of a young boy who lives in a small Romanian village by the Danube. The boy’s connection with the river drives him to attempt a watery journey to connect with his parents, who are working abroad in Vienna,. It echoes the experience of thousands of children whose parents have left the country to try and give their kids a better life. The movie is available on YouTube.

Director Tudor Giurgiu will soon bring De ce eu? / Why me? to the big screen. The movie is the true story of a Romanian prosecutor, Cristian Panait (Emilian Oprea), who investigates a bribery case involving another prosecutor and unearths major corruption in the political system.

Giurgiu has created a buzz by releasing the movie in development in Bucharest, Cluj and Timisoara. No release date has been made public so far. The message of the film – “Those who try to fight a suffocating system from the inside inevitably end up by being devoured, isolated and torn into pieces” – is timely given the recent presidential elections