“The idea of a collective documentary project came during my first online class with students at the Documentary Filmmaking masters' programme of the University in Cluj-Napoca: I initially asked my students to document their time spent indoors, but a few hours later I decided to extend the project, so I made a list of people and challenged them to get on board”, Dăscălescu told FNE.
From approximately 40 people, handpicked from his list of friends on Facebook or who volunteered, Dăscălescu ended up with 20 protagonists/authors including eight couples, three young families with small children, two families with older kids and seven single people. Amongst them are three actors, three journalists and one doctor.
Dăscălescu is producing through Filmlab, the company he founded in 2007 and which produced his previous three long documentaries: Constantin and Elena / Constantin și Elena (2008), Planet Petrila / Planeta Petrila (2016) and Holy Father / Tatăl nostru (2020).
The budget is not known yet, but a possible investor might come on board.
“I have made initial contact with an investor and I will follow up during the next days with a more detailed script, a budget and a trailer. So far, everything is my company’s own investment and the priority is getting this to the screens as soon as possible. The budget is yet to be determined, and will depend on the form and will consist mostly of postproduction costs, as all the footage is shot by the protagonists themselves, using their mobile phones”, Dăscălescu also said.
He has already started editing and after the rough-cut he will be joined by another editor and possibly a story consultant.
The premiere is planned for the autumn of 2020 and might include a small tour of events in Romania (in cinemas or drive-ins, if the cinemas stay closed) as well as a simultaneous release on a TV channel and/or online, depending on the investor.
The director/producer does not intend to wait for a festival premiere. His previous documentary Holy Father was ready for a world premiere at the beginning of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and it is still submitted to festivals, so it can be released domestically in 2021, but Dăscălescu plans to release Videograms of a Pandemic earlier, as it is a more time-sensitive topic.
Production Information:
Producer:
Filmlab (Romania)
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Credits:
Director: Andrei Dăscălescu
Editor: Andrei Dăscălescu
