The film is a story about growing up in contemporary Romania and follows Alex, a successful young man confronted with the sudden illness of his mother and the impossibility of controlling everything in his life. The main character is played by Bogdan Dumitrache, previously seen in Cătălin Mitulescu's Palme d'Or winning short Traffic, and in Constantin Popescu's Portrait of a Fighter as a Young Man/Portretul luptătorului la tinereţe. The mother is played by Nataşa Raab, the father by Marian Râlea, and the girlfriend by Alina Grigore.
Sitaru wrote the script as a Cinéfondation resident at the Cannes Film Festival (www.festival-cannes.com ) in 2008, after receiving a development grant from the National Centre for Cinema (www.cncinema.abt.ro ). The treatment and the concept was presented at CineMart, during the Rotterdam Film Festival (www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com ). The script won a production grant of €135,000 (545,000 RON) from the Romanian National Centre for Cinema in August 2008. Shooting took place in Autumn 2010.
Ada Solomon and HiFilm (www.hifilm.ro ) produced the film. Cor Leonis Films (www.corleonisfilms.hu ) from Hungary was the co-producer, and Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan and 4Proof Film (www.4prooffilm.ro ) co-produced from Romania. The film received 110,000 euro from Eurimages (http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/eurimages ). The budget was €750,000.
Sitaru continued his collaboration with the DOP Adrian Silişteanu (Angling). Stylistically, the film uses the same point of view as Angling, but with significant changes. The world premiere was at Locarno Film Festival (www.pardo.ch ), where the film was awarded Best Director and Best Actor. The Romanian premiere was 28 October 2011.
Production information
HiFilm Production
179, Traian st.
024043, Bucharest, Romania
Phone: + 4021 252 48 67
Fax: + 4021 252 48 66
Mobile: + 40723 200 640
www.hifilm.ro
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cor Leonis Films Kft.
Váci u. 56-58
1056 Budapest
Phone: +(36) 20 955 5858
Fax: + (36) 26 363636
www.corleonisfilms.hu
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
4Proof Film
7B Inisor street, Sect.2
Bucharest, Romania
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, phone: +40.749.100.958
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.4prooffilm.ro
Credits
Director: Adrian Sitaru
Script: Adrian Sitaru
DOP: Adrian Silişteanu
Cast: Bogdan Dumitrache
Nataşa Raab
Marian Râlea
Alina Grigore
Adrian Titieni
Clara Vodă
Gabriela Popescu
