As the festival is drawing nearer, ToRo announces the line-up of special guests for its upcoming “romaniancinemaNOW: the 2nd Annual Toronto-Romanian Film Festival“.

We must first make the unfortunate announcement that Igor Cobileanski will not be able to attend because of a scheduling conflict that has just very recently arisen.

ToRo is honoured to officially confirm the following guests of honour:

- Alexandru Solomon, director of Cold Waves will be present at the screening for a Q & A session with the public

- Maria Dinulescu (California Dreamin’), award-winning actress will be present at the festival’s closing-night screening of Hooked, to conduct a Q & A session

- Catalin Musat, director of The Flying Shepherd, part of our Doc.Day shorts programme, will also be present to discuss his award-winning film.

This year, ToRo is once again privileged to have as presenters our returning festival-friends, York University professor Tereza Barta and Western University professor Calin Mihailescu.

The Flying Shepherd / Ciobanul Zburator (2008)

Director: Catalin Musat
Screenwriter: Catalin Musat
Running time: 26 min.

screening co-presented by

Shepherds generally have a hard and quiet life, walking their sheep flock over green hills with only the blue sky above their heads, away from the turbulent civilization. So is Jean and his fellow shepherds, Mihail and Patru found by the filming crew in Sibiel, doing daily duties near their sheep pasture. So far so good but some nifty Germans build a noisy airfield near the quiet sheep farm.
It’s an encounter between cultures, which becomes a detonator for a surreal kind of humour while embodying a great sense of freedom.

Awards / Festivals
- Special Mention (Locarno Int’l Film Festival) 2008
- Official Selection (DokMa Int’l Film Festival) 2008
- Official Selection (Festival Dei Popoli) 2008

** Q & A session with director Catalin Musat to follow screening.

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Don’t Get Me Wrong / Nu Te Supara, Dar… (2007)

Director: Adina Pintilie
Screenwriter: Adina Pintilie
Running time: 50 min.

screening co-presented by

‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ is a brilliantly composed, unobtrusive documentary revealing the day to day lives of some of the patients in a Romanian psychiatric institution. Patients debate the existence of God and supernatural powers, repeatedly asking ‘how do you stop the rain?’ Others move stones every day or spend hours in the strange, ambient ‘entertainment room.
Blatantly absurd actions get a second meaning which is deeply emotional. The only way to escape the essential absurdity of this existence is through love.

Awards / Festivals
- Golden Dove, Best Documentary (DOK Leipzig) 2007
- Filmmakers of the present Competition (Locarno Int’l Film Festival) 2007
- Best of Fests (IDFA – Int’l Documentary Festival Amsterdam) 2007
- Best Woman Director (Int’l Film Festival of Contemporary Cinema) 2008
- Official Selection (Documenta Spain) 2008
- Official selection (Montpellier Int’l Film Festival) 2007

“The Unveiling of Contemporary Romanian Cinema”

Inspired by the primacy of things present and organized by the ToRo Arts Group with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute, romaniancinemaNOW: The 2nd Annual Toronto-Romanian Film Festival will be running from February 13th to the 15th (2009) and will emphasize the extent to which “things peripheral,” often manifesting themselves on the borders of the mainstream and the commercial, continue to inspire a less-ironic, less-tragic and less-miserable understanding of the idiosyncrasies of the everyday.

Screenings will be held at:

Innis Town Hall – 2 Sussex Ave
*click for map

Bloor Cinema – 526 Bloor St.  (West)
*click for map

*click on each day for full program & film info
Friday, February 13 – Opening Night
19:00 – Opening Night – Bloor Cinema
23:00 – Opening Night Reception – TBA

Saturday, February 14 – Doc. Day – documentary screenings co-presented by
12:00 – Shorts Programme 1 – Innis Town Hall
15:00 – Doc.Day Shorts 1 – Innis Town Hall
18:00 – Doc.Day Shorts 2 – Innis Town Hall
21:00 – Doc.Day Feature – Bloor Cinema

Sunday, February 15 – Indie/Debuts. Day
12:00 – Shorts Programme 2 – Innis Town Hall
15:00 – Indie / Debut Feature 1 – Innis Town Hall
18:00 – Indie / Debut Feature 2 – Innis Town Hall
21:00 – Indie / Debut Feature 3 – Bloor Cinema

Tickets

Advance tickets ($8 student, $12 adult), as well as day and festival passes will be available until February 1st, 2009, at the UofT Tix box office, located at 7 Hart House Circle, by visiting the UofT Tix website, at www.uofttix.ca, or by calling the box office directly at 416-978-8849.

After February 1st, tickets will be $10 for students and $15 for adults, day and festival passes also reflecting this change in price.

PROGRAM
* Please be advised that ToRo Arts Group reserves the right to modify and/or alter the evening’s program
so as to meet all necessary legal and copyright requirements. All changes made will arrive with due noti-
fication.