This weekend in Bucharest’s theatres we can watch two animation films (one as a preview) and also festival films. Bucharest International Film Festival already started Wednesday, on June 28. Also, the list of films to be seen at home, on TV or online, is not less interesting.

Here are our recommendations if you want to cool down in a movie theatre:

1. Despicable me 3 (dir: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin, Eric Guillon; animation). The minions return to continue the adventures of Gru, Lucy and their adorable daughters Margo, Edith and Agnes.

While confronting his new enemy, Balthazar, Gru starts a fraternal rivalry with Dru, his lost twin brother, who suddenly reappeares in his life.

Three fun facts about the third sequel of Despicable Me:

• Steve Carell said that Despicable Me 3 may be his last film as the voice of Gru.
• Agnes’s voice actress Elsie Fisher from the first and second film was replaced by Nev Scharrel due to Fisher getting too old for the role.
• This is Trey Parker’s first role in a children’s movie.

The film will have its Romanian premiere on Friday, June 30 and will play for the whole weekend at Grand Cinema & More Băneasa, Movieplex Cinema Plaza Romania, Cine Globe Titan and Happy Cinema Liberty Mall.

2. Sing (dir: Christophe Lourdelet, Garth Jennings; animation). Although the Romanian premiere was in December, the film can still be seen in Bucharest’s cinemas. We recommend it for a dose of laughing out loud. In a world similar with ours but with animals instead, the film follows a fancy koala named Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), the director of a theatre that lost its glorious days. Confronted with the possible loss of the theatre, Buster realises that he has only one chance left to save the theatre – to host the most extraordinary singing competition. The film received four nominations at the 2017 Golden Globe.

Even though it was tough to select, here are the most interesting five fun facts about the film:

• The film features over 85 hit songs from the 1940s to 2016.
• The movie is dedicated to Igor Khait (1963-2016), an Animation Producer of the film, who died from pancreatic cancer during production.
• The film’s cast includes three Oscar winners: Jennifer Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, and Reese Witherspoon; and three Oscar nominees: John C. Reilly, Seth MacFarlane, and ‘Wes Anderson.’
• Songs signed by three different artists who died in 2016 are on the movie’s soundtrack: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (George Michael), “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen), and “Under Pressure” (David Bowie and Queen).
• The opening scene where Buster Moon is narrating behind the desk is an homage to the opening scene of Jerry Maguire film (1996), when Leigh Steinberg is sitting at his desk.

The film plays on Friday and Saturday at MV Cinema, starting at 5:40 PM.

3. On the beach at night alone / Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja (dir: Sang-soo Hong; drama) is part of the BIFF (Bucharest International Film Festival( programme this weekend. The 2017’s edition of the festival focuses on South Korea and brings to Romania two South-Korean premieres. The film wants to create and to capture personal dilemmas presenting an actress that wanders around a seaside town, pondering her relationship with a married man.

You can catch the film on July 1st, at 2:00 PM at Elvire Popesco Cinema and on July 2nd, at Peasant Museum Cinema, starting at 8:00 PM. For more details about the festival’s schedule, check the BIFF’s website.

From the BIFF’s programme we also recommend you the film Ana, Mon Amour that will be screened on Friday, June 30, at 8:00 PM at the Peasant Museum Cinema and the Romanian short films which can be seen on Saturday (7:30 PM) and Sunday (3:30 PM) at the Peasant Museum Cinema.  You can find here an interview with Diana Cavaliotti about her role in Ana, Mon Amour.

As usual, here are our three recommendations to be watched at home:

1. We go back in time and we stop in 2008 when Radu Jude made his debut in feature film with The Happiest Girl in the World (drama). Today, Radu Jude is one of the most known and appreciated Romanian directors, both national and international.

Based on a true story from the early years of the director’s career, the movie became an internationally recognised feature film. The Happiest Girl in the World casts beloved Romanian actors, Vasile Muraru, Șerban Pavlu and Andreea Boșneag, a very talented teenager on her first role ever.

The film can be found online on Cinepub.

2. Carol (dir: Todd Haynes; drama). The action is placed in the 1950s New York where Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) works in a toy store. She dreams of a different life when she meets Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), a seductive and more mature woman who is trapped in a loveless marriage. A connection sparks between the two, becoming deeper and deeper. Rooney Mara was awarded with the Best Actress Prize at 2015 Cannes for her role in Carol. In 2016 the film received six Oscar nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and thirteen BAFTA nominations.

Here are six fun facts about the movie:

• Carol was shot on Super 16 millimetre film to resemble the look and feel of a photographic film from the late 1940s/early 1950s.
• Rooney Mara has been a big fan of Cate Blanchett since she was 13 years old and she described the experience of working with Blanchett as “beyond a dream come true.”
• Carol’s classic fur coat was created from the fur of vintage coats, with the pieces of old fur sewn together. Costume designer Sandy Powell revealed that it “fell apart every single day, every single scene.”
• Both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara wore wigs throughout the shooting
• In the major critical survey of LGBT films, conducted by the British Film Institute in 2016, Carol was voted the best LGBT film of all time.
• Carol was the most nominated film at the 2016 Golden Globes.

The film will be broadcasted on Saturday, July 1 on HBO and HBO HD, at 4:25 PM.

3. Two Lottery Tickets (dir: Paul Negoescu; comedy) with Dragoș Bucur, Dorian Boguță and Alexandru Papadopol tells the story of three men who desperately need money and choose the simple and quickest way to get them: they buy a lottery ticket. Shortly after, the winning ticket is stolen.

Two Lottery Tickets can be seen on HBO 3 and HBO 3 HD also on Saturday, July 1, at 4:35 PM.

If you’re interested to know more about the new feature film signed by director Paul Negoescu, called Never Let It Go, that will be released next summer, you can read here the #behindthescreen interview with him.

Romina Banu

Photographer and editor; she co-founded Dissolved Magazine together with Melissa. For Films in Frame she gathers film and TV series recommendations for lazy weekends and she writes about interesting projects from the film industry. Other than that, she likes traveling, chilling with her cats and sleeping.