The next weekend of June has a quite diverse cinema schedule. We prepared three recommendations (including two Romanian films) which should not be missed. And, as per usual, we also have three film recommendations which can be watched from your couch, online or on TV, together with your friends or family.

1. Several conversations about a very tall girl (dir. Bogdan Theodor Olteanu; drama, romantic). The first feature film of Bogdan Theodor Olteanu is a short trip in the queer world, focusing also on a generation less represented in the Romanian film industry: the youngsters living in the big cities, caught in the battle between personal values and contradictory options, western models and a society which is still “stuck” in traditions. A former common lover, a photo album, several online conversations, a coffee and a visit. This is how begins the love story of two girls.

The premiere will take place on June 22^nd and the film can be seen during the entire weekend at Grand Cinema & More, Happy Cinema and Hollywood Multiplex. Purchase your ticket here.

2. Charleston (dir. Andrei Crețulescu, drama) – the film is a bitter-sweet story of a weird love triangle, formed of two men and a woman whom both of them lost. A couple of weeks after his wife Ioana dies in a car crash, drunk and alone on the night he turns 42, Alexandru receives a strange visit: Sebastian has been Ioana’s lover for the past five months.

If you want to find out more about this story, you should definitely read the June interview with Andrei Crețulescu, where Andrei also told us about how he became a director and the things that intrigue him.

The film is scheduled on Saturday at Cinema Peasant Museum, at 6:00 PM, and on Sunday, starting at 8:30 PM.

3. Dovlatov (dir. Aleksey German; biography) – charts six days in the life of the brilliant, ironic writer, Sergei Dovlatov, who saw far beyond the rigid limits of 70s Soviet Russia. Sergei Dovlatov fought to preserve his own talent and decency with his friend, poet and writer, Joseph Brodsky, while watching his artist friends getting crushed by the iron-willed state machinery, a system which they manage to escape by emigrating in New York.

The film can be found in the cinemas throughout the weekend at Happy Cinema, and on Saturday at Cinema Peasant Museum, at 8:15.

Films for home:

1. As you already know, the Romanian films can be found on Cinepub.ro. Our June recommendation is Self-portrait of a Dutiful Daughter(dir. Ana Lungu; drama, family). Cristiana is a 30-year-old woman, from a “proper”, bourgeois middle-class family. Her time is split between writing her PhD in Earthquake Engineering, conversations with Alex and Michelle, her two close friends and occasional, eagerly awaited rendezvous’ with Dan, a married man with whom she is romantically involved. After her parents move out of the apartment, she plans to live by herself. This Romanian film explores with delicacy the process of becoming both a woman and an adult of a girl who was overprotected by her parents.

In order to discover more details about this film, we recommend you to read the film review written by Andrei Petrescu exclusively for ADFR.

2. Aurora (dir. Cristi Puiu; crime) – the film tells the story of Viorel (played by Cristi Puiu) who is driving throughout the city after picking up two hand-made firing pins for a hunting rifle. The man is 42 years old and, troubled by obscure thoughts, he drives across the city to a destination known only by him.

We also recommend you the film review of Aurora signed by Sebastian M. Ceolca, which can be found exclusively on our website.

The film can be seen on Friday, June 22^nd, on Cinemaraton, starting at 9:45 PM.

3. As Good As It Gets (dir. James L. Brooks; comedy). We finish our recommendation series with a comedy film about Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), a darn, romantic and curious guy who seems to suffer from a mental illness. He never skips any confrontations and is proud of being so unlikable and ready to hurt anyone. He has his strict habits: same breakfast in the same restaurant, served by the same waitress. In 1998, the film received two Oscar Awards for Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress, and three Golden Globes for Best Comedy Film, Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress.

The film is broadcasted on Sunday, June 24^th, on Cinemax and Cinemax HD, at 6:40PM.

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.