From the very start, our website intended to become a most faithful mirror of the Romanian cinema from today and yesterday. That is why we considered the “In Production” segment of an utmost importance. We never thought it would mean so much trouble.
The results of the CNC projects contests are just as many sources of expectations. We imagine that all the winning titles will come to life and that sooner or later will be on the big screen. Unfortunately what happens to some of them remains a mystery. Some of them simply don`t get to be made because the filmmakers cannot collect the necessary funds. Others change their title along the way, or the director, or even the producer and the people who got to read the initial screenplay realize that it is completely different as well. How the accumulated point rating (that ensured the success in the contest) justifies itself is a matter that stirs disputes and complaints.
But most of them get in production, becoming a potential subject for our column. All over the world, the professional magazines, on paper or online, mention the films that are in-process. The important thing is for us to find out who, where and when the film is being shot. The production companies are reluctant when it`s about giving precise information; and so are the directors. When the refusal is not clear (“I don`t receive anyone on set”), the excuses start. Any excuse is good enough: “the actors get stressed out”, “we shoot only by night”, “we shoot in a troubled neighborhood”, “it`s such a pity, it`s our last shooting day!”, etc. A report from the set and some interviews with some of the crew members cannot be anything else but some advertising for the film, an early invitation addressed to the viewer. Gentlemen, we don`t spy on you, we only try to help you!
And the secrecy goes on. We get to find out about the Romanian participations in smaller festivals only from the foreign press or from the festivals websites. Maybe it`s about some PR dysfunctions. About the participations in bigger festivals first there are some rumors and guessing waiting for the final decision which should befall like a bomb. Let`s say the tension and the uncertainty rule, but also the vanity of not letting the people know that somebody knocked on the Cannes door, or the Berlin one or the Venice one and that it didn`t open.
And when it comes to the premiere date, the situation gets out of control. Why is it possible that the release schedules are known one year before in countries like France, Italy, Germany, etc? And why is the scheduling of a Romanian film such an unknown thing, which can occur all of a sudden, or it can be postponed for months? Because touring the festivals should happen before the domestic screenings, even if those festivals don`t require world premieres? I wonder if that thing didn`t make the viewers appreciate the prize more than the film… And is that a good thing?? But the filmmakers don`t keep away only from us, the interpreters of the film phenomenon, but also from the other filmmakers. The idea that they might be part of a New Wave, of a current, of a school, horrifies them. And actually I heard some people say: “We are not a Wave, we are just some artistic personalities who happened to co-exist in the same place, at the same time.”
We knew we lived in a world of individualism and egocentrism. After all, why would the filmmakers be an exception??