“Why the Dinosaurs disappeared”: pudicity, sexuality and what the parents tell their children
by Andra Petrescu
In the first weekend of July 2015, Why the Dinosaurs Disappeared was screened at the student short films competition of theArkadia Film Festival that took place in Băicoi, Prahovacounty. We talked to Simona Sava, the producer and also the film scriptwriter abouthow the production experience was for her, about the advantages of a student film and about how you can explain to the parents that it`s ok to let their children play with a condom for your film. Simona has also recentlydirected one of her scripts and she discovered that she feels closer to the scriptwriting area.Why the dinosaurs disappeared is a comedy that tries to say something about the Romanian people`s pudicity when it comes to the topic of sexuality. The little boy of a broad-minded couple, both working in advertising, pokes about in his parents` closet and finds a box of condoms. The next day, at school, he tries to blow them up, together with his colleagues. The script of the film counts on the fact that the source of humor will not be in the primary school kids (they are not older than 8 years old) playing with the condoms, but in the abashment of the three grown-ups confronted with the need to explain to the children what sex is.
So, if at the beginning of the film the mother attacks the Romanian practice of sending the child to the church service together with his classmates (we understand that she wouldn`t want her boy to be indoctrinated), then when she finds out that the reason why the teacher asked her to come to school is a discussion about sexuality, she attacks the problem in a different way. Now it`s the right time to appeal to the classical stories about how children are made or at the most to update them. The progressive beliefs of the two advertisers are disarmed and they start negociatingwith the teacher about how she should explain them that “mommy plus daddy plus love plus condom equals no little brother”.
Simona Sava finished her Master`s Degree studies in Scriptwriting at UNATC, Bucharest (2013-2015). For the production class, Simona produced the short film, as the year exam together with MihaiGhiță, a former student of the film directing section at UNATC. The short film was screened at the 2014 CineMAiubit International Student Film Festival, 2015Cluj Short International Film Festival, 2015 Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival and 2015 DaKINO International Film Festival.
During the DaKINO Film Festival, the Aarc team talked to Simona Sava and to Andrei Oană, the cinematographer, about the challenges of a low budget student film.
Imagine: Dan Țuculescu
play with a condom for your film. Simona has also recentlydirected one of her scripts and she discovered that she feels closer to the scriptwriting area.Why the dinosaurs disappeared is a comedy that tries to say something about the Romanian people`s pudicity when it comes to the topic of sexuality. The little boy of a broad-minded couple, both working in advertising, pokes about in his parents` closet and finds a box of condoms. The next day, at school, he tries to blow them up, together with his colleagues. The script of the film counts on the fact that the source of humor will not be in the primary school kids (they are not older than 8 years old) playing with the condoms, but in the abashment of the three grown-ups confronted with the need to explain to the children what sex is.
Simona Sava despre "De ce au disparut dinozaurii"
