The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London invite you at

The 54th BFI London Film Festival for a series of screenings of three of the most acclaimed recent Romanian films.

The BFI 54th London Film Festival’s full programme was announced on 8 September, including a diverse selection of world and international premieres, alongside an exciting line-up of special events and expected guests. Details on www.bfi.org.uk/lff

This year’s programme includes PORTRAIT OF THE FIGHTER AS A YOUNG MAN, the debut feature film of director Constantin Popescu, the critically acclaimed documentary AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU, by Andrei Ujica, and AURORA, the long-expected third feature film signed by Cristi Puiu.

Romanian Films’ Programme:

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU

(Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu)

Directed by Andrei Ujica. Documentary, Romania 2010, 180 mins

In this magisterial, engrossing documentary portrait, Andrei Ujica tells – entirely through archive footage, most of which originated as state propaganda – the story of the Romanian president’s long grip on power. This is, on one level, a transportive, expertly assembled work of historical record. Without commentary or titles, it brilliantly evokes the Ceausescu era: from the grand spectacle of party conferences and May Day marches to desperate state visits to understocked supermarkets on the eve of his downfall. But as well as offering redolent insights into recent Romanian history, this is also a remarkable disquisition into totalitarian power, and a dazzling illustration of the changing significance of archive footage. Charting the public excesses of the dictator with an appalled fascination, Ujica also provides footage of the politician at his most unguarded, deliciously wry sequences that find evidence of the politician’s mendacity in even the smallest of details. How far can you ever trust someone who cheats, as Ceausescu is seen to do in the film’s funniest moment, at volleyball? (Edward Lawrenson)

Screening on:
Sunday 17 October at 16.00, Vue West End, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7AL
Booking: Online at www.bfi.org.uk/lff or at Telephone 020 7928 3232.

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PORTRAIT OF THE FIGHTER AS A YOUNG MAN

(Portretul luptatorului la tinerete)

Directed by Constantin Popescu. Romania 2010, 120 mins. Cast: Constantin Dita, Ionut Caras, Bogdan Dumitrache, Catalin Babliuc, Ion Bechet

Constantin Popescu follows his contribution to the Romanian new wave portmanteau film TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE with a daringly ambitious debut feature of epic scale. The Soviet Army invaded Romania in 1944, turning the country into a dictatorship. As the regime grew increasingly repressive, resistance groups multiplied, springing up in the Romanian mountains where many had been driven and taking on the might of the Russian military in forests and open fields. The resistance survived well into the 1950s. PORTRAIT OF THE FIGHTER AS A YOUNG MAN focuses on one band of men led by Gavril Ogoranu (a captivating performance from Constantin Dita, who’s well supported by the ensemble cast) as they adapt to their environment, have to deal with anything from hunger to the secret police, and accept the anti-Communist struggle as their very way of life. Beautifully shot, and presented in a committed realist, quasi-documentary style reminiscent of Stephen Soderbergh’s CHE or Ken Loach’s LAND AND FREEDOM, there’s a strong authenticity about Popescu’s tribute to the courageous men who battled for their country. (Michael Hayden)

Screenings on:
Sunday 17 October at 15.00, Rio Cinema Dalston, 107 Kingsland High Street E8 2PB
Monday 18 October at 18.30 and Tuesday 19 October at 13.00, Vue West End, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7AL
Booking: Online at www.bfi.org.uk/lff or at Telephone 020 7928 3232

NOTE there is a complementary event – Fighting for Identity: Turning Struggle into Cinema – please see website for details.

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AURORA

Directed by Cristi Puiu. Romania-France-Switzerland-Germany 2010, 181 mins. Cast: Cristi Puiu, Clara Voda, Valeria Seciu, Luminita Gheorghiu

Cristi Puiu’s AURORA begins in the half-light of early morning: on the bed of a small Bucharest flat is forty-something Viorel, as his lover rests alongside him. Viorel is naked, and that sense of exposed vulnerability sets the tone for Puiu’s subsequent portrait of this divorced engineer.
Played with compelling restraint by Puiu himself, Viorel is a scowling, sluggish man of few words. With Puiu’s long-take minimalism hypnotically attuned to the quotidian rhythms of Viorel’s day, we follow this implacable loner into the grey Bucharest light. But the beneath the every-day routines, Puiu creates a subtle, slow-burning tension that’s as gripping as any thriller. Scenes crackle with a sense of unease, and it’s not long before we start imagine Viorel will be making use of that hunting rifle he brought out of storage earlier in the day… Nearly three hours long, this is an utterly absorbing account of the way one man’s embittered grievances turn to violence, a masterly character study whose bleak insights into obsession are leavened with sparks of gallows humour. (Edward Lawrenson)

Screening on:
Sunday 24 October at 16.00, Vue West End, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7AL
Booking: Online at www.bfi.org.uk/lff or at Telephone 020 7928 3232

Image above: Cristi Puiu in AURORA. Courtesy of The BFI London Film Festival.