The director, writer and producer Jean Negulesco was born on the 26th of February 1900 in Craiova and, after WWI (where he was an unpaid boy scout for the Red Cross), he moved to Paris in order to study Economics and Painting. A friend of the Paris avant-garde (Brâncuși, Modigliani, Soutine) and desperately in love with Dadaism, Negulesco worked for a while as a landscapes painter. In 1927 he went to New York and, two years later, he moved to California. Soon after, Negulesco entered the movie business, first as writer and assistant director for very successful films such as Captain Blood and A Farewell to Arms (based on Ernest Hemingway's novel) and then as full-fledged director/producer. The four films selected for MECEFF 2012 – Humoresque (1946), How to Mary a Millionaire (1953), Daddy Long Legs (1955) and The Best of Everything (1959) – are not only a crucial part of the work of a huge artist, but they also cause the reunion of some of the biggest Hollywood stars of all times: Joan Crawford, John Garfield, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, William Powell, Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Thelma Ritter, Louis Jourdan.
Included in the American Film Institute's list of the 25 greatest male stars in American cinema, Edward G. Robinson was born in 1893 in Bucharest, made his debut in 1913 and, two years later, he became one of the most sought after Broadway thespians. A star of the Hollywood's Golden Age, Robinson was made famous by his gangster roles such as Rico, of Little Caesar fame, or Rocco, from Key Largo, but also by characters such as Barton Keyes from the film-noir Double Indemnity, or Dathan from The Ten Commandments. In 1973, two months after passing away, he was awarded a posthumous honorary Academy Award. The Edward G. Robinson revival during MECEFF 2012 encompasses 11 films: The Little Giant (Roy Del Ruth, 1933), Barbary Coast (Howard Hawks, 1935), Kid Galahad(Michael Curtiz, 1937), The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (Anatole Litvak, 1938), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (Anatole Litvak, 1939), Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (William Dieterle, 1940), Manpower (Raoul Walsh, 1941), Larceny, Inc. (Lloyd Bacon, 1942), House of Strangers (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949), The Outrage (Martin Ritt, 1964) and Cheyenne Autumn (John Ford, 1964).
Johnny Weissmüller was born in Timișoara but, when he was 7 months old, he immigrated with his parents to the US. A very sickly child, Johnny was advised by a doctor to pick up swimming. Years later, the young man became a 5 time Olympic champion (1924-1928), winner of 67 World titles and 52 national titles. He was the record holder for all the freestyle competitions and was the first one to ever seem 100 meters in less than a minute. Johnny Weissmüller will be present in Mediaș thanks to a legendary character of the 7th art, Tarzan, the protagonist of the film directed by Cedric Gibbons in 1934. Born in New York but of Romanian-Polish descent, Harvey Keitel is one of the most beloved American actors of the past 40 years, and his name is forever connected to those of Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets or Taxi Driver), Ridley Scott (The Duelists and Thelma & Louise) or Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction). Of course, the best way of celebrating Mr. Keitel during MECEFF 2012 is to screen one of his most awarded films, a triple Academy Award and BAFTA winner and the winner of the most coveted award in cinema, the Golden Palm – ladies and gentlemen, The Piano (Jane Campion, 1992).
Last but not least, a selection of films titled "Romanian artists in Hollywood" can't disregard two of the most famous Romanian actors today, Maia Morgenstern and Marcel Iureș. As neither of them need no further introduction, it's suffice to say that the films screened during MECEFF 2012 turned them into international stars: The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004), where Maia Morgenstern holds her own in front of Jim Caviezel and Monica Bellucci, and The Peacemaker (Mimi Leder, 1997), where Marcel Iureș steels George Clooney's and Nicole Kidman's scenes.
The second edition of MECEFF – Mediaş Central European Film Festival, organized by Ecran Cinema Management, Primaria Medias, CNC, Regiunea Tarnavelor and Ministerul Culturii, and the only festival in Romania focused on the neighboring countries of the so-called "Central Europe", will take place in Mediaș, Sibiu county, between the 2nd and the 8th of September.
Website: www.meceff.ro
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/MeCEFF
Co-producer: TVR
Festival supported by: Film New Europe
Media partners: Radio România Actualităţi, Radio România Cultural, Radio Romania Cluj, Radio România Târgu Mureș, Adevărul, Bursa, Observator Cultural, Formula AS, Zile şi Nopţi,
Cinemagia, Port.ro, Observator cultural, Mediaș News, CinemaRx.ro, Radio Ring, Monitorul de Mediaș, Liternet, Cinefan, Film Reporter, Blog de cinema, România Pozitivă, Antena 1 Sibiu, TV AS, Nova Tv Mediaş, TV Târnava, Travel Mix, Radio Mediaş, Radio SON, Radio Poliglot, ArtActMagazine, 24 Fun, 4 arte, Tribuna, Jurnalul Sighisoara Reporter, Rondul de Sibiu, Informaţia Săptămânii, Târnăveni.ro, MediasNewsBlog, Adevărul Verde-n Faţă, Revista Luceafarul
