Life’s Hard / La Drumul Mare (2008)

Director: Gabriel Sirbu
Screenwriter: Gabriel Sirbu
Cast: Claudia Prec, Mihaela Betiu, Andi Vasluianu, Gabriel Spahiu
Running time: 20 min.

In the Bucharest gridlock, a thief strikes up a strange relationship with his female victim.

Awards / Festivals
- Jury Award (Aspen Short Film Festival) 2008
- Official selection (Palm Springs Int’l Film Society) 2008
- Official selection (Zagreb Int’l Film Festival) 2008

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Home / Acasa (2007)

Director: Paul Negoescu
Screenwriter: Paul Negoescu
Cast: Gabriel Spahiu, Marian Ralea
Running time: 14 min.

A Romanian migrant worker returning home from Spain on Christmas Eve. During the ride from the airport, the taxi driver reveals he wants to work abroad too. But after he sees the cold reunion of his client’s family he has a second thought…

Awards / Festivals
- Special Mention (Cinema Porto in Bra Int’l Film Festival)
- Special Mention (Paris Signes-de-Nuits Film Festival)
- Official Selection (Rotterdam Int’l Film Festival)
- Official Selection (BFI London Film Festival)
- Official Selection (Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival)

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Interior. Block of Flats, Hallway / Interior.Scara de Bloc (2007)

Director: Ciprian Alexandrescu
Scriptwriter: Simona Ghita
Cast: Tudor Aaron Istodor, Simona Ghita, Luminita Gheorghiu, Gabriel Spahiu, Vlad Ivanov
Running Time: 16 min

A couple argues, but suddenly bigger matters get in their minds and they are drawn to the hallway where they meet several of their neighbours.

Awards / Festivals
- Special jury prize (Uppsala International Short Film Festival) 2008
- Official selection (Cannes) 2008
- Arte short film award (Hamburg Int’l Short Film Festival) 2008

* audience-choice winner at “romaniancinemaNOW: a film festival preview“ (Dec.12)

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A Very Short Trilogy of Loneliness / O Foarte Scurta Trilogia A Singuratatii (2006)

Director: Bogdan Apetri
Screenwriter: Bogdan Apetri
Cast: Marius David, Laur Marin, Anca David
Running time: 7 min.

Open country and a small river, the vista stretching far into the distance. A car approaches and stops. A woman gets out, lights a cigarette, stares into space, then drives on. And then another car, another figure, briefly only, alone again, just passing. Brief stops in a stark landscape, loneliness pausing for loneliness. Meditative moments from a post-industrial age.

Awards / Festivals
- Official Selection (Seattle Int’l Film Festival) 2007
- Official Nomination (Student Oscar) 2007
- Official Selection (Cottbus Film Festival) 2007

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Green Oaks / Stejarii Verzi (2004)

Director: Ruxandra Zenide
Screenwriter: Marek Epstein
Cast: George Hoffmann, Maria Dinulescu, Valentin Popescu, Juliet Strimbeanu, Dorotea Brandin, Roberto Molo
Running time: 30 min.

George looks after his little sister in a remote part of Romania. They are all alone in the world. And even if fate over-takes them, life will reassert its claims.

Awards / Festivals
- Golden Unicorn (Alpinale Film Festival) 2004
- Official Selection (Ismalia Int’l Film Festival) 2004

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Megatron (2008)

Director: Marian Crisan
Screenwriter: Marian Crisan
Cast: Gabriela Crisu, Damian Oancea, Erwin Simsensohn, Maxim Adrian Strinu
Running time: 14 min.

Maxim lives with his mother in a village near Bucharest. It’s Maxim birthday; he’s turning 8. His mother takes him to Bucharest, to McDonald’s. Maxim will do anything to meet his father who lives in the city.

Awards / Festivals
- Palme D’Or (Cannes Int’l Film Festival) 2008
- Official Selection (Thessaloniki Int’l Film Festival) 2008
- Official Selection (Austin Int’l Film Festival) 2008

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The Yellow Smiley Face / Fata Galbena Care Rade (2008)

Director: Constantin Popescu
Screenwriter: Doru Lupe
Cast: Luminita Gheorghiu, Teodor Corban, George Constantinescu
Running time: 15 min.

Mia and Florin Popescu, the two main characters, are two ordinary people, both over 50 and both a little scared of the technological changes going on around them. To them, the computer is nothing more than a piece of furniture until the chance to communicate with their son, Alex, who lives in USA, makes them step into the virtual world. They explore this new territory using the instructions Alex has sent them in a letter.

Awards / Festivals
- Official selection (Locarno Film Festival) 2008
- Official selection (Transylvania International Film Festival) 2008
- Official Selection (Warsaw Film Festival) 2008

“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.