Inspired by true events, the film is a story of love and search for freedom against the background of the 1951 Communist-ordered deportation of 40,000 innocent people to the Baragan Plain, the „Romanian Siberia”. Emil Bazan, a young history teacher is deported together with his young wife and he is forced into a different perspective of perceiving history and everyday life.
“Even though it is a period piece, the film’s political implications are as much about the present as they are about the past”, Andrei Zincă told FNE. The script penned by him is based on the short novel Projects from the Past / Proiecte de trecut by well-known Romanian writer Ana Blandiana.
Radu Iacoban, Iulia Lumânare, Cuzin Toma and Olimpia Melinte are starring.
So, What’s Freedom?/ Și atunci… ce e libertatea? is a coproduction between Călin Papură through Romania’s Tică Trade and Andrei Zincă through the US company Double 4.The project was supported by the Romanian Film Centre, Romanian Television (TVR), Cinema City and Voxx Studios (USA). Tudor Reu is executive producing. The budget was nearly 1 m USD, Andrei Zincă told FNE.
The film was shot in chronological order by seasons, from the autumn of 2013 to the summer of 2014, with long breaks between each period of filming.
Transilvania Film will release the film in Romania in 2020. “Double 4 Studios has the distribution rights worldwide. A USA release is in our plans for 2021”, Zincă also said.
Andrei Zincă left Romania in 1982 and after living in Latin America for a while he moved to the USA in 1988, where he established himself in the Spanish language TV programmes area, especially telenovelas. He returned to Romania in 2006, where he shot the TV series La Urgență, (an ER type series), as well as his first feature film as a director, Puzzle for a Blind Man / Puzzle pentru un orb (2013, produced by Castel Film Studios.
So, What’s Freedom? is dedicated to the memory of Călin Papură and Romulus Rusan, who both died before its completion. This is the only film that production designer Călin Papură produced in his long, successful film career. Besides being Ana Blandiana's late husband, Romulus Rusan served as the history consultant for the production.
Production Information:
Producer:
Tică Trade (Romania)
Coproducer:
Double 4 Studios (USA)
Credits:
Director: Andrei Zincă
Scriptwriter: Andrei Zincă
DoP: Tudor Vladimir Panduru
Editor: Edith Weil
Original score: Daniel Szabo
Sound design: Igor Comes
Production designer: Călin Papură
Cast: Radu Iacoban, Iulia Lumânare, Cuzin Toma, Olimpia Melinte, Tunde Skovran, Radu Bânzaru, Nicodim Ungureanu, Cristian Popa, Magda Catone, Dorina Lazăr
