01-08-2013

Kunsthal Paintings Robbery Inspires Giurgiu

By
    Tudor Giurgiu Tudor Giurgiu

    BUCHAREST: Director and producer Tudor Giurgiu (Of Snails and Men) is developing together with photographer Cristian Movilă a feature based on the international art theft sensation last year that reached a tragic resolution in Romania.

    The theft and likely destruction of seven paintings by Picasso, Monet, Gauguin, Matisse and Lucian Freud, perpetrated by six Romanians in Rotterdam's Kunsthal Museum during the night of 15-16 October, has inspired the project.

    Giurgiu told FNE that shooting dates are not yet set, but even with the project still in the documentation and early screenwriting stage, he has already approached by producers from Great Britain, Holland and USA. "The plot is selling itself," he said in a press release. "It is an excellent pretext for an action movie different from a genre film."

    One possibility is that the film will employ English dialogue and to have an international cast with American and European actors. For now, the team is focusing in interviews conducted by Giurgiu and Movilă with the accused, from which the script first draft is now taking shape.