Cold Waves / Razboi pe Calea Undelor (2007)

Director: Alexandru Solomon
Screenwriter: Alexandru Solomon
Running time: 90 min.
How does fear and corruption bend down an entire society?
How easy does one give up his freedom?
Is there a way to avoid being an instrument of propaganda?
It might not seem a subversive act, but radio listening in Ceausescu’s Romania was a risky undertaking. Founded Radio Free Europe broadcast its music and pro-democracy propaganda across the Iron Curtain. As millions of listeners tuned in Ceausescu’s strong men worked to bring about its demise. Employing Carlos the Jackal to help bring about RFE’s demise, Ceausecu’s secret war included bombs and radiation attacks.
Romanian director Alexandru Solomon, who grew up listening to the station, uses a combination of wide-ranging interviews, archive and evocative re-enactment to relate the often unbelievable dramas taking place off-air. He explores the paralysing atmosphere of fear in 1980s Romania, and the failure of society to act collectively against the Ceausecu dictatorship. Meanwhile, the RFE editors didn’t always fight clean themselves…A chilling insight into the final chapter of the Cold War.
This is the unique story of a love and hate triangle built around something one cannot see, touch or weigh: radio waves.
Awards / Festivals
- Official Selection (Astra Film Festival Sibiu) 2007
- Official Selection (IDFA Amsterdam) 2007
- Official Selection (DOK Leipzig Film Festival) 2007
- Official Selection (Alpe Adria, Trieste) 2008
- Official Selection (Visions du Reel, Switzerland) 2008
** Q & A session with director Alexandru Solomon to follow screening.




