The premiere of a documentary: ”The Red Empress”, by Radu Gabrea

     “Ana, Luca and Dej/ Scared away the bourgeois people” was a successful slogan of the Communist propaganda in `45-`48. And that is ironical, since Ana Pauker was coming from a “bourgeois” family: her grandfather was a rabbi and her father, HerșcuRabinsohn, was a haham. She started her medical studies in Geneva, but she had to abandon them, then she taught Jewish in an elementary school. Being “a Jewish, an intellectual and a woman” were three handicaps she had to overcome in her political ascension, as we find out from the documentary The Red Empress – The Life and Adventures of Ana Pauker, directed by Radu Gabrea.
     The film starts the debates on a less known period (the Communism installed overnight in the Romania of the `40s), on an unusual character like Ana Pauker (a woman with great power at the time), but also on the strong fights inside “the leading party”.
    Radu Gabrea says he couldn`t find video footage for a long period of time (the `20s and the `30s) and so, he tried, with the help of more historians, to explain for the viewer an age full of lies and violence. The film is produced by Orion Film. The premiere from the 19th of June was a good occasion for the guests to wish “Happy Birthday!” to Radu Gabrea, who celebrated his birthday on the 20th of June. Cinematography: Nicolae Cara