Great Movies
This Thursday, December 4, 2014, the 9th edition of a unique, fascinating film program begins at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York (with a program selection also playing at the Burns Film Center starting Friday, December 5). The New York Times named "Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema" an "annual treasure," as the selection offers a diverse array of the best of contemporary Romanian filmmaking, including features, docs, shorts, panels and special programs.
Highlights of this year's program include the latest from Corneliu Porumboiu, director of "Police, Adjective" and "12:08 East of Bucharest," two of the most important films of the current Romanian New Wave. His latest, "The Second Game," is described as a "reflection on a relationship with the past." Other highlights include Andrei Gruzsnicki's "Quod Erat Demonstradum," Stere Gulea's "I'm an Old Communist Hag," Valentin Hotea's "Roxanne," Maya Vitkova's "Viktoria" and Cristian Jurgiu's "The Japanese Dog," the Romanian selection for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of 2014.
Mihai Chirilov, the festival's artistic director, said in a statement: "The vibe of this year’s showcase of contemporary Romanian cinema is perhaps best captured by Faulkner’s famous words ‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’ Twenty-five years have passed since the fall of Communism, but for most of the films in this program—from Quod Erat Demonstrandum to I’m an Old Communist Hag to Viktoria to Roxanne—the past is still an unfinished business, and proof that Romania’s recent history has left an indelible mark on our collective consciousness. When not addressing history, Romanian films embrace the present and attempt to break free from a haunting past, begging the question: can it really be left behind? The ninth edition of Making Waves offers some possible answers."
Head to the official site for film times and to get your tickets.
Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.
