Principal photography recently wrapped in Romania. The plot follows an American professor (Marcel Iureş, Mission: Impossible, Amen, The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2) on his journey to Vienna, Transylvania and Bucovina, former Austro-Hungarian Empire provinces.
The story is partly biographical. Gifford's grandfather left Bucovina for Vienna and finally settled in the United States. In 2003, when he first visited Romania, Gifford followed a sort of similar journey. He then travelled to Bucovina together with a man he just met at Transylvania Film Festival (TIFF) in Cluj-Napoca: Lucian Georgescu.
"The film is a roadmovie, but I don't want to make it look like either Borat or the Romanian realistic movies," the director (a screenwriter who worked in advertising) told FNE.
The producers call The Phantom Father (www.thephantomfather.com) the first part of a trilogy of "bitter comedies and fantasy tales of foreigners visiting a mysterious land which whom they share love and hate past stories, memories or ghosts."
The €1.1 million film is produced by Generic Audiovizual SRL (GAV) - Romania (www.gav.ro) and Germany's Von Vietinghoff Film Productions (www.vonvietinghoff-film.de ). It received a grant from the Romanian Film Centre (http://www.cncinema.abt.ro/), and a €20,000 grant from the MEDIA Programme.
The film is co-financed by the Romanian companies Mediacom, Starcom Media, Initiative Media and Media Direction. There is no sales company yet.
Joachim Von Vietinghoff is Senior Consultant Producer. The music is composed by the German Johannes Malfatti, and the DOP is Liviu Marghidan (California Dreamin').
The film is in English, although the cast, except Gifford, is entirely Romanian. Principal photography, which took place in Romania and Hungary, was completed in December, 2008, with some additional shooting now underway in Bucharest. The release date is to be determined.
Company information
GAV (Generic Audiovizual SRL)
Bucharest 48 Plantelor Street 023975, Sector 2, Romania
Tel: 0040-21-31.71.356
Fax: 0040-21-31.71.286
Mobile: 0040-72.81.17.755
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MediaCom Romania
Bucharest, 39 Frumoasă Street, Sector 1, Romania
Tel: 0040- 21 - 314.50.10
Fax: 0040- 21 - 314.50.15
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Starcom Media
13, Nicolae Iorga Street, Romania
Tel: 0040-21-201 6140
Fax: 0040-21-201 6141
www.starcommedia.com
Initiative Media
Bucharest 17 Ceasornicului Street, Sector 1, Romania
Tel: 0040-21 - 3010100
Fax: 0040- 21 - 3010199
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Media Direction
Bucharest 41Argentina Street
Sector 1 Romania
Tel: 0040-21-230.60.22
Fax: 0040-21-230.60.36
Credits
Director, screenwriter and producer: Lucian Georgescu
Based on a story by: Barry Gifford
Cinematographer: Liviu Marghidan
Cast: Marcel Iureş, Mihaela Sârbu, Mihai Constantin, Valer Dellakeza, Nicodim Ungureanu, Barry Gifford
