“Lemonade”, by Ioana Uricaru; the World Premiere Today, at the 2018 Berlinale

     Lemonade / Luna de miere, Ioana Uricaru`s feature directorial debut, produced by Cristian Mungiu, will be screened today, February, 19, starting with 22:30, in the  Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival.
     The film is based on real events and it presents the contrast between two different ways of seeing the world and the impossibility to reconcile them. The USA that are depicted in the film are far from the ones that the immigrants dream about, before leaving their native country. It`s not a modern, technologically advanced world, full of possibilities, but rather a provincial world, inhabited by people with narrow-minded mentalities and prejudices. The feeling of being caught between two worlds, painfully familiar to any immigrant comes down to one question: Is it worth it?
     “Lemonade is a film that belongs both to the Romanian cinema and to the American one, so way I see myself as belonging to both cultures. I see Lemonade as a film that is somewhere between the European author cinema and the brave American independent productions. It succeeds in doing so thanks to the nature of its theme, of the production (that took place on two continents) and of its aesthetics.” Ioana Uricaru said.
     The protagonist of the film, Mara, is played by Mălina Manovici (Graduation / Bacalaureat, directed by Cristian Mungiu). Other members of the cast are Canadian and Romanian actors: Steve Bacic (The 6th Day, X-Men 2, Andromeda), Dylan Scott Smith (The Mummy, Star Wars: Battlefront II, 300), Milan Hurduc and Ruxandra Maniu – the winner of the Trophy of the „Ștefan Iordache” HOP Young Actor Gala.
     Ioana Uricaru was one of the directors of the collective feature film Tales from the Golden Age / Amintiri din Epoca de Aur (produced by Mobra Films, 2009); she directed the short film  Stopover (produced by Mobra Films, 2010). She also directed National Treasure (documentary, 2007, co-director Wang Ying), The Sun and The Moon (short film, 2007) and The Witness (short film, 2012).
     Lemonade is an international co-production: Romania (Mobra Films) – Canada (Peripheria) - Germany (42film) – Sweden (Filmgate Films, Film i Väst). At this year`s edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, Voodoo Films has two films: Lemonade, by Ioana Uricaru, which will have the premiere today, in the Panorama section and Infinite Football / Fotbal Infinit, by Corneliu Porumboiu, which had the world premiere on Friday, February, 16, in the Forum section.
     Lemonade is distributed by Voodoo Films.
     The film crew is present at the Berlinale with the support of the CNC and of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Berlin.