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Romanian Film Festival Seattle- 6th Edition
STORIES OFF THE WALL
Join us in celebrating 30 years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall! The 6th edition of the Romanian Film Festival, entitled "One Eye Laughing, One Eye Crying: Stories OFF the Wall", brings you Romanian and Eastern European cinema echoing the political, economic and existential dilemmas that have reshaped Europe in the aftermath of the Cold War. Bounced OFF a wall that divided families, generations and nations, these stories harness the unifying power of film to create new bridges, in a universal quest for shared meaning.
We have made history together: from one of the smallest venues in town with 93 seats (in 2014), we have upgraded the festival to the largest auditoriums @ SIFF CINEMA Uptown with 275 seats (between 2015-2018). From about 750 viewers attending the first edition, we have been reaching approximately 2,300 people every year. From an ethnic film festival, we have succeeded in creating an authentic Seattle experience where people of all backgrounds watch internationally acclaimed films, learn something about Romanian heritage, laugh and cry together, proving that the festival has earned its title "One Eye Laughing, One Eye Crying"
Let us know if you would like to become our ARCS Official Festival Partner ($5,000 & $ 10,000), a Festival Sponsor or Ambassador ($500 & $1000 +).
In case you decide to support our project and fundraising endeavors, ARCS will acknowledge your contribution on all promotional materials – website, Social Media, festival booklet, poster, flyers, and before each screening. etc. We are flexible and willing to create the sponsorship package that fits best your needs and budget.
DO NOT MISS this one of a kind opportunity to gain more visibility, grow, have an impact, and let your community know that you care and belong!
Observing the Romanian Revolution: Some Personal Reflections
When
Oct. 29, 2019 at 01:30 PM - 29 Oct. 2019 at 03:00 PM
The Romanian revolution was for me, my own personal revolution. It brought me – to use Andy Warhol’s expression - my ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ for it catapulted me and Romanian studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the University of London, into the British public eye. This lecture is based on my experience of the 1989 revolution as a consultant to the BBC at the time, an experience that included visual and audio monitoring of events in Romania in London between 14 December 1989 and 10 January 1990.
As 'anchor' in London I had access to the reports from the major international news agencies as they came through to the BBC on a teleprinter, as well as to television 'feeds' from camera crews from thirty-six international TV companies dispersed around Romania. Among them were stations from the USSR, Libya, France, West Germany, Hungary, and Britain. I was thus indirect witness to the meetings convoked on 22 December in the central squares of the cities and major towns of Romania – Bucharest, Timișoara, Pitești, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Arad, Bacău, Constanța, Suceava - ostensibly to show support for Ceaușescu, and to filmed events that followed.
After arriving in Bucharest on 31 December, I accompanied three teams of BBC reporters and cameramen throughout the city, translating interviews carried out by the team with Ion Iliescu, Silviu Brucan, Ion Caramitru, Mircea Dinescu, and many other significant actors in the aftermath of Ceaușescu’s overthrow. The latter included a one-to-one meeting with General Victor Stanculescu. My reflections are based in part on this direct contact."
Moon Hotel Kabul by Anca Damian
2018, Drama, 100 minutes
When
Nov. 15, 2019 at 07:00 PM - 15 Nov. 2019 at 08:55 PM
Synopsis
Ivan Semciuc (played by Florin Piersic Jr.) is a cynical investigative journalist. He is skillfully combining truth and fiction in his reports. Then comes a day when something similar occurs in his own life: at the end of a mission in Kabul, he has a one night stand with Ioana, the translator. The event is seemingly meaningless, but the next day, back to Bucharest, Ivan finds out that Ioana died with her wrists cut. The unshakable routine of his personal life enters a profound revolution, as Ioana is haunting him, more present in her death then she was during life. The film is raising questions about truth, love and the price we decide to pay for them. Winner of The Best Director Warsaw International Film Festival 2018.
Romanian Role Models: ARCS Summer Camp Shorts by Iulia Rugină
2019, Shorts, 45 minutes
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 09:30 AM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 11:30 AM
Synopsis
These shorts were made by Romanian American students during ARCS Summer Camp (2nd edition) hosted by Ellison Center at University of Washington, under the instruction of director Iulia Rugină and actress Ioana Flora. Every group received a prompt for their short, related to four Romanian role models: Nadia Comăneci, Queen Marie, George Enescu and Constantin Brâncusi. Making of by Adriana Guiman.
A Distance by Teodora Totoiu
2018, Drama, 26 minutes
Nov. 16, 2019 at 09:30 AM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 11:30 AM
Synopsis
Three Romanian women reunite on a farm in Transylvania and struggle to reconnect while mourning the death of a loved one. This is a tale about identity, roots, and transgenerational dialogue.
The Call by Anca Damian
2018, Animation, 10 minutes
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 09:30 AM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 11:30 AM
Synopsis
An aged woman is taking a bath. While entering the water, a new world reveals. The phone, on a chair, connects her with her son and is the only link to the real world. Winner of Best Short Film, Edinburgh International Film Festival 2019, and the Jury Prize, Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2019.
My Father's Shoes / Opinci by Anton and Damian Groves
2019, Animation, 18 minutes
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 09:30 AM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 11:30 AM
Synopsis
A film based on a true story about a record breaking globetrotter and single father, Dan Dumitru, who attempts to explain death, courage and the absence of her mother to his young daughter, Steliana. Winner of Best Short Film, Transilvania International Film Festival, 2019.
Toto and His Sisters by Alexandru Nanau
2014, documentary, 94 minutes
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 11:50 AM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 01:35 PM
Synopsis
This multi award-winning documentary tells us the story of Toto (10) and his sisters Ana (17) and Andreea (15) who conquer life on their own during their mother's imprisonment. Toto passionately learns dancing, reading and writing, while his sisters try to keep the family together in a world that has long forgotten what the innocence of childhood should be. What happens when we discover that we can get more from life than our parents have to offer?
Toto Horvat’s story tells us about the importance of art and education in shaping the future generations and empowering our youth to be change makers, against all odds. Toto came to Seattle for the 2ndedition of ARCS Summer Camp for Romanian heritage students, hosted on UW Campus. His internship was sponsored by the UiPath Foundation, whose executive director Raluca Negulescu-Balaci will attend the screening and Q& A session to lead a debate about inspiring models of social change.
Q&A and Debate: Dismantling Walls in Our Societies
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 01:30 PM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 02:30 PM
Where
SIFF Cinema Uptown
What
Panelists: Akila Somasegar (Philantropist, GirlUp, Seattle); Magda Matache (Instructor and Director of the Roma Program, Harvard University), Cristiana Grigore (Founder Roma Peoples Project, Columbia University), Raluca Negulescu-Balaci (Executive Director, UiPath Foundation); and Pulitzer Prize winner for journalism Jacqui Banaszynsk.
The debate will follow the screening of the social documentary Toto and his sisters (dir Alexandru Nanau) and aims to shed light on the unseen potential of children struggling with inequality, as well as the challenges they encounter navigating social stigma and economic marginalization. We will explore and share a significant number of perspectives and impactful ways that can tackle poverty for children around the world, with a focus on Romania, India and the US. Looking at the accelerated pace of change of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we will discuss the role of technology in empowering underprivileged children to become agents of social progress and advancement.
About UiPath Foundation
Founded by UiPath in January 2019, UiPath Foundation is an independent non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious organization, that aims to empower underprivileged children to reach their potential and thrive together with their communities through equal access to education.
More details: https://www.uipath.com/company/foundation
The Father by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
2019, Comedy/Drama, 87 minutes
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 02:55 PM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 04:15 PM
Synopsis
A day after Valentina’s passing, her bereaved husband Vassil and son Pavel discover that she persistently keeps trying to call the neighbor on the phone. A sucker for the supernatural, Vassil sets out on a trip to meet a famous medium, forcing his estranged son Pavel to tag along and make sure his nutty old dad stays out of harm’s way. The unhinged journey that follows helps them face the guilt they feel towards the one they have lost, and rediscover their relationship to each other. Winner of the Crystal Globe, Karlovy Vary Czech Film Festival, 2019.
The Distance Between Me and Me by Mona Nicoară
2018, documentary, 89 minutes
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 04:45 PM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 06:10 PM
Synopsis
We all wrestle with our past. Some more than others. Romanian Jewish avant-garde poet, musician, visual artist, femme fatale, prodigious drinker and terminal smoker Nina Cassian had more than most to wrestle with: her refuge in the Communist underground during the Fascist 1940s put her first in complicit proximity to the Stalinist regime of the 1950s, then propelled her on a collision course with the Ceaușescu regime in the 1970s, and eventually sent her into an unwanted New York exile in 1985, when her samizdat poems led to a secret police murder. An intensely personal film about art, belief, and politics, The Distance Between Me and Me looks at the friction between individual memory and official archives, between our present reality and the narratives we construct about our former selves by setting Nina’s words during her last year of life against a rich archive of films, music, poems, official television appearances, never-before-seen private recordings, and secret police surveillance materials.
The Whistlers/La Gomera by Corneliu Porumboiu
2019, drama, 97 minutes
When
Nov. 16, 2019 at 07:00 PM - 16 Nov. 2019 at 08:32 PM
Synopsis
In The Whistlers, not everything is as it seems for Cristi, a police inspector in Bucharest who plays both sides of the law. Embarking with the beautiful Gilda on a high-stakes heist, both will have to navigate the twists and turns of corruption, treachery and deception. A trip to the Canary Islands to learn a secret whistling language might just be what they need to pull it off.
The film was nominated for Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2019, and is Romania’s proposal for the 2020 Oscars.
That Trip We Took with Dad by Anca Miruna Lăzărescu
2016, comedy drama, 111 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 12:10 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 02:05 PM
Synopsis
The turbulent year of 1968 and the “Prague Spring” set the scene for the moving story of this film. A Romanian German family living in the heart of Transylvania starts a journey to the German Democratic Republic. Two brothers with very different personalities take their weary father to have surgery abroad, which they hope would help restore the family’s lost harmony. Caught in the middle of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and closed in by the Soviet tanks, the men suddenly find themselves in West-Germany. How much sacrifice can they take until they can return back home to the rest of their family? Winner of 8 international prizes, including Federico Fellini Award, Tiburon International Film Festival, 2017.
Donbass by Sergey Loznitsa
2018, Drama, 122 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 02:25 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 04:50 PM
Synopsis
In the Donbass, a region of Eastern Ukraine, a hybrid war takes place, involving an open armed conflict alongside killings and robberies on a mass scale perpetrated by separatist gangs. War is called peace, propaganda is uttered as truth, and hatred is declared to be love. A journey through the region unfolds as a chain of curious adventures, where the grotesque and dramatic are as intertwined as life and death. This is not a tale of one region, one country, or one political system. It is about a world lost in post-truth and fake identities. It is about each and every one of us. Winner of 9 international prizes, including Un Certain Regard, Cannes, 2018.
One More One Less/Plus Minus Unu by Ion Borsh
2018, Drama, 28 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 05:10 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 06:50 PM
Synopsis
This film tells the story of a resident doctor who discovers a case of malpractice committed by a more experienced colleague. He decides to fight against a lawless system and take a risk that may mean losing his job.
Paparuda by Lucia Lupu
2015, Drama, 15 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 05:10 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 06:50 PM
Synopsis
In a village hit by drought, Dumitru starts a quest for water. Ioana, the girl who accompanies him in this pursuit, is a silent witness of baseness of people that appear on their road. Instead of this human aridness, Dumitru finds water in the place he least expected.
When Saturn Returns by Mihai Bruma
2018, Drama, 17 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 05:10 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 06:50 PM
Synopsis
While working in a store Radu raps to himself, preparing for that night's concert. Everything would have gone smoothly if it were not for the girl he saw; recognizing her after 16 years -- his first love.
Billion/Miliard by Evgheni Dudceac
2017, Adventure/Comedy, 21 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 05:10 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 06:50 PM
Synopsis
An allegory of the great Moldovan bank robbery -- in 2015, $1 billion has vanished from three of Moldova’s national banks, a mystery that has thrown the already struggling country into an even deeper crisis.
The Escape by Andrei Gruzsnickzki
2013, Drama, 107 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 07:10 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 09:15 PM
Synopsis
Romania, 1984. The decision of a mathematician to publish a paper in a journal of an American university, without asking the permission of the communist authorities, will trigger a chain of events that will change the lives of those around him. After all, there are no decisions without consequences. Florin Piersic Jr. plays the Securitate detective who investigates the case. He received the Best Actor of the Year (Gopo Awards) for his brilliant interpretation. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Rome Film Fest in 2013.
The Christmas Gift by Bogdan Mureșan
2018, Drama/History, 23 minutes
When
Nov. 17, 2019 at 07:10 PM - 17 Nov. 2019 at 09:15 PM
Synopsis
On the 20th of December, 1989, a few days after Ceausescu's bloody repression in Timisoara, a father’s quiet evening turns to sheer ordeal as he finds out that his young son has mailed a wish list to Santa requesting a present for his father -- his desire to see Ceausescu dead. Winner of numerous prizes, including Best of Fest & Jury Award, Palm Springs International ShortFest, 2019, and Grand Prix, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, 2019.
Freak Show by Florin Piersic Jr
2019, one-man show, 120 minutes
When
Nov. 18, 2019 at 07:30 PM - 18 Nov. 2019 at 09:30 PM
Synopsis
Performed by one of Romania’s most prominent and prolific young actors, Freak Show brings to life characters depicting the tragi-comic transition from communism to democracy. EVENT IN ROMANIAN.
Freak Show, written, directed and performed by Florin Piersic Jr, is a dynamic tour de force that keeps the audience with bated breath for almost two hours. Florin Piersic Jr plays 13 characters (a fake billionaire, worker, banker, retiree, TV producer, professor, beggar, among others). You will watch a versatile actor who continuously changes parts in a hallucinatory chain of transformations.
Guests
Florin Piersic Jr.
Born in 1968, Florin Piersic Jr. is a Romanian actor, director and writer. He translated, directed and performed in "Dice and Cards" by Sam Henry Kass, "Opposites Attract" by Bruce Kane, "Tom and Jerry" by Rick Cleveland, "Sex Drugs Rock and Roll", by Eric Bogosian, "Brothers!" by Dave Williams. In 2013, he wrote and produced the one-man-show entitled "Freak Show". His performance (13 characters) has been acclaimed both by the public and the critics. Florin Piersic Jr. is the author of the novel "Romantic Porno" (2011), as well as of the collection of short stories entitled "Complete Works - Volume One" (2009) and "Complete Works - Volume Two" (2015). Currently, Florin Piersic Jr. is working on the feature film called "Nothing About Love", written and directed by himself. Florin Piersic Jr. has received numerous prestigious awards, the most recent including the Best Actor of the Year for "The Escape" in 2015 at Gopo Awards; the Jury's Prize (for "Freak Show") at Festco Comedy Festival, Bucharest in 2014, the Best Experimental Movie ( for "Killing Time") at UCIN (Romanian Cinematographers' Union) in 2013. Florin Piersic Jr. plays the lead part in Comrade Detective, an American buddy cop series created by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka released on Amazon Video in 2017. http://www.piersicjr.com For the Romanian-speaking audience, Florin will perform a one-man show Freak Show on November 18, at Kirkland Performance Center at 7:30pm. For tickets and information: http://www.kpcenter.org/event/freak-show/
Mona Nicoară
Mona Nicoară is a filmmaker, curator, writer, and educator. She started working in film in 1997 as an Associate Producer for Children Underground, which received the Special Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Her directorial debut, Our School, premiered in the US at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, went on to over 70 festivals worldwide, was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best US Feature at AFI SilverDocs. Her latest film, The Distance between Me and Me, received the audience award at Films de Cannes à Bucarest, screened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Trieste, and is currently distributed in cinemas in Romania. Nicoară also works as a festival programmer, and has been teaching film, writing, and literature at Columbia University, the Cooper Union, New York University, and Rutgers. Her writings have been published in The Guardian, Decât o revistă, Dilema, and Scena 9, among others. www.monanicoara.com
Teodora Totoiu
Teodora Totoiu is a Romanian-American cinematographer based in Seattle. Her background in anthropology and photography inspires her creative approach when shooting scripted narrative and documentary film. With a passion for visual storytelling, she enjoys collaborating and working creatively to echo each director's vision through texture and movement that best supports story. Her recent work includes "Waterschool" (2017), which is currently streaming on Netflix, "Francesco" (2020) directed by Academy Award-nominated Evgeny Afineevsky and most recently, "Lady Cameraman" (2020) which premiered at EnergaCAMERIMAGE in November 2020. Her work spans internationally with projects in Brazil, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Austria, Romania, Uganda, India, China and across the U.S.
Ion Borsh
Ion Borsh was born in 1990 in Chisinau, Moldova. He graduated Acting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chisinau, in 2013. ”Plus Minus One” is his debut short film as a director. He starred in ”What a Wonderful World”, ”Beautiful Corruption”, ”Salix Caprea” and ”Opus Nocturn 2”, also he was 1stAD in the short movie ”Now”. Director Statement "Through the movie Plus Minus One I want to show the situation of the medical system in my country, the attitude of the medical staff towards their patients, and the conditions imposed on the young resident doctors who try to fight against a corrupted system. The storyline is based on real facts, situations that most of us have had to deal with. The characters resemble us, our confrontation, on a daily basis, with the acute problems of our society. Our national cinematography should reflect more on these matters in order to create social change and put an end to corruption".
Monica Filimon
Monica Filimon was awarded a PhD in Comparative Literature by Rutgers University. She is Associate Professor of English at Kingsborough Community College, CUNY. She has published articles on French, German, and Romanian films. Her research focuses on the New Romanian Cinema, its sources, evolution, and major representatives. Her first book Cristi Puiu: Ineffable Experiences of the Profane World was published by the University of Illinois Press in February 2017. She is currently working on a second book tentatively titled Corneliu Porumboiu: Notes on the Absurd.
Raluca Negulescu-Balaci
Raluca Negulescu-Balaci is the Executive Director of UiPath Foundation, a global non-profit organization, founded by UiPath in January 2019, to empower underprivileged children from Romania and India to reach their potential through equal access to quality education. Previously, Raluca coordinated comprehensive educational programs under the umbrella of the Policy Center for Roma and Minorities for 9 years. In 2007, she worked as a Junior Consultant in a World Bank-supported national program, focused on enabling 250 disadvantaged communities in Romania to keep up with fast-technological challenges. In 2013, Raluca was a Legislative Fellow in the US Department of State professional program “Building grassroots democracy in minority communities” and she received the Annual Human Rights Award of the Embassy of France in Romania, for her local women empowerment initiative – Mothers' Club. Raluca is a fellow of Aspen Institute Romania’s Young Leaders Program and a member of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.
Akila Somasegar
Akila Somasegar is a finance professional and a philanthropist, with a specific interest in empowering women and children. She manages her family foundation through which she drives her philanthropic activities, both in the US and in several developing countries. In 2014, she was chosen to be an advisory board member for the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up initiative for educating and empowering the girls around the world. The “Girl Up” initiative currently has investment projects in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Malawi, Liberia, India and Uganda. Akila launched Girl Up in Sri Lanka with the help of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Children’s welfare and Sri Lankan ministry of Education. A nationwide launch was held in Colombo in October of 2015. Akila Somasegar is also a Board Director for YWCA Seattle|King|Snohomish and Bellevue Life Spring.
Margareta (Magda) Matache
Margareta (Magda) Matache is a Roma rights activist and scholar from Romania, director of the Roma Program at Harvard FXB, and also a Harvard instructor. From 2005 to 2012, Margareta Matache was the Executive Director of Romani CRISS, a leading Roma rights organization that defends the rights of Roma. In 2012 she was awarded a Hauser postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard FXB where she founded the Roma Program. In Spring 2017 she co-edited Realizing Roma Rights, an investigation of anti-Roma racism, with the goal to set the foundations for a more inclusive Europe. Her other publications and research have ranged from the rights and agency of Romani children and adolescents to early childhood development, anti-Roma racism, reparations, segregation in education, and participatory action research.
Cristiana Grigore
Cristiana Grigore is a writer, research scholar and the founder of the Roma Peoples Project at Columbia University, an initiative that spotlights Roma peoples and expands Roma studies by examining topics such as identity and stigma, mobility and displacement. Herself a Roma—a member of Europe's largest minority with approximately one million Roma living in the US— she has firsthand experience with internalized stigma and concealing one's ethnicity. Upon arriving in the United States in 2006, Cristiana found a more conducive environment in which to express her Roma identity. She is writing a book that explores how her immersion in American culture enabled her to grapple more fully with her Roma/Gypsy ethnicity. Her writing was published by the New York Times and she writes periodic op-eds for Newsweek and other media channels. Her work has been featured by Vogue, CNN, Al Jazeera America, PRI, and Voice of America, among other outlets. A Fulbright Scholar from Romania, Cristiana graduated from Vanderbilt University with an MA in International Education Policy and Management in December 2012. She earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Bucharest in 2007. Most recently she is part of an advisory group for the National Gallery of Art on a topic related to Roma in the Arts.