BIEFF 2018 - Program Special Romanian Cinematic Experiments

     Standing by its mission to promote Romanian film experiments and the young generation of visual artists, BIEFF brings to the attention of the audience a section with 10 of the latest local short films and video essays in the program Romanian Cinematic Experiments.
     Shot in a period of five years during travels to and fro between Romania and the USA, States Uprooted contains personal archive, combining 8mm film with digital files. The film tries to offer another perspective over identity and defining it in the two countries. Ioana Țurcan`s approach of the concept of transition starts with an occult ritual performed by her grandmother and goes on to touching some of the most fragile “transitions” of the present: the woman`s condition, the immigration, feminism in sports, protesting against political power, etc,
     Alexandra Gulea`s video essay reaches deep into topics such as loneliness, poverty and depression by developing the tragic story of a boy from Valea Jiului who comits suicide because of the absence of his mother; the story becomes a warning sign, offering worrying details. The distant, omniscient narrator can be heard reading quotes from the local press that speak about the boy`s suicidal, ensuring the poignant soundtrack of the film portrait of the small town and of its community. Valea Jiului Notes represents a counter direction to the iconic cinematic symphonies dedicated to cities, by means of which the director laments an underprivileged town and praises its inhabitants, as heroes.
     In Brief conversation about the d word, a slow interview in which two voices present meanings and faces of depression is visually supported by a series of black and white archive films, ingeniously edited, almost orchestrated, which show animals having different reactions. The visual images provide the audio part with an organic cover, combining the rhythm of the given information with an alert, almost anxious ahythm of the animals. Teona Galgoțiu`s aim is to offer a specificity to a term which is common, but vague: depression.
     Nona Ionescu`s work is centered on the interpretation of the post-humanist relations of the human body to the surrounding space and technology. In her video production, Where Touch Begins, We Are, of all senses, touch is the most directly charged with intimacy. In this way, touch can transfigure the edges of both the individual as well as the objects in an interaction. By building a language based on sensuality, the human body can expand infinitely through touch. (Diana Marincu, Art Encounters 2017)
     The film Adore, by Cristian Fierbințeanu, proposes a multiple paradox: a geographical/religious/ utopian and dystopian, progressive and at the same time dysfunctional. The film`s aesthetic is glossy and surreal and combines religious elements with SF-like images, providing a modern, musical preach as its sound background. Both the concept of the short film and the artistic approach provide a post-modernist attitude which makes of Adore a challenging audio-visual project, both cinematographically and ideologically.