Although the moody weather doesn’t encourage us to go out, we are sure that the film lovers want to spend their time in the cinemas. The weekend brings two film premieres, a festival and other new productions. But, for those who want to spend the time at home, the options are just as diverse.

Here are the premieres from the Bucharest cinemas from this rainy weekend:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (directed by Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg; adventure) is the fifth part of the franchise which concentrates on the same Jake Sparrow just as passionate about rum and eager to return aboard his ship, Black Pearl. This time, the captain has to find the trio of Poseidon.

As usual, we found out the “secrets” from the set and we selected for you the most interesting five facts:

• This is the first film of the franchise that was not filmed in the Caribbean, but in Queensland, Australia, with a total budget that exceeds 350 million dollars.
• With a two hour and nine minutes’ length, this sequel has the shortest running time of all the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films.
• This production was released six years after its predecessor (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, 2011); both are filmed digital, not on film as the previous ones.
• The father of Captain Jack Sparrow was played by a Rolling Stone (Keith Richards) and in this film the uncle of Captain Jack Sparrow is played by a Beatle (Paul McCartney).
• To prevent fans from interfering with the production, the filming team used the production name of “Herschel”.

In Bucharest the premiere will be on Friday, May 26, at Grand Cinema & More Băneasa, Movieplex Plaza, Cine Globe Titan and Happy Cinema Liberty Mall. Find more details about schedule and tickets here.

2. The other side of hope (directed by Aki Kaurismäki; comedy, drama) comes to the Bucharest cinemas after Kaurismäki was awarded with the Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlinale Festival 2017. The film is following the story of a young Syrian emigrant named Khaled, originally from the besieged city, Aleppo, who is looking for haven on the streets of Helsinki. Wikström is a former salesman who quits his job and becomes poker player and innkeeper in the same city. The two destinies meet halfway through the movie. The film is distributed in Romania by Indepența Film.

If you are not familiar with Aki Kaurismäki’s work, here are some information and fun facts about him:

• His name means “deer hill” in Finish.
• Before he became a director, he was a postman, he washed dishes at a restaurant and he worked as a film critic.
• At some point, Aki together with his brother, Mika, founded a production and distribution film house named Villealfa. They are “responsible” for most of the Finish production since the 80s.

About his latest comedy, the director says: “Throughout this film I try to do my best to ruin the European way of seeing refugees as victims that we pity or as economically arrogant immigrants, who invade our society just to steal our work, wife, house or car”. 

The premiere in Bucharest will also be on Friday, May 26 at Grand Cinema & More Băneasa and at Happy Cinema Liberty Mall. Here  you can find out more about the schedule and tickets.

3. The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (directed by Juho Kuosmanen; biographic) tells the true story of the Finnish boxer, Olli Mäki. In the summer of 1962 he has just one shot at the World Featherweight title. Everything, from the rural Finland to the lights of Helsinki, predicts him a bright future. He just has to lose some weight and concentrate. There’s only one problem: Olli has just fallen in love. In 2016, the director received the Un Certain Regards Prize at Cannes Film Festival and the European Discovery of the Year Prize at the European Film Academy Awards.

Fun facts:

• By choosing to use 16mm B&W the film-makers were able to give recently renovated locations a vintage look. The lack of colour hid modern details.
• In the end of the film, Olli and Raija walk to the harbour and encounter an old couple. The couple are the real-life Olli and Raija Mäki.

The film had the premiere in Bucharest on May 19 but it still can be seen at Peasant Museum Cinema, on Sunday, May 28, at 8:15 PM.

The fifth edition of the Super Festival, the festival of films made by teenagers, also takes place this weekend. The adolescent directors are waiting for you at Elvire Popesco Cinema with international and national competitions. You can find out more about the festival and its schedule by clicking here.

For days at home, we recommend you:

1. Outbound (directed by Bogdan George Apetri; drama, 2010) is the newest film posted by our friends from Cinepub website, with Ana Ularu in the leading role. Matilda is released from prison for 24 hours and plans to flee the country and to start a new life. By the end of the day she has to confront her painful past: the family that rejected her, her former boyfriend and the child that she left behind.

You can watch the movie right here.

2. Brooklyn (directed by John Crowley; romantic) is a love story that follows an Irish girl, Saoirse Ronan, who wants to succeed in 1950s city of New York. She marries a plumber (Domhnall Gleeson) whom she meets at a Friday night party. The film was nominated at 2016 Oscar Awards for Best Film, Best Leading Actress and Best adapted script. The film received the Alexander Korda Trophy for Best British Film at 2016 BAFTA Awards. 

Fun facts:

• The city of Brooklyn in the film was actually shot in Montreal because of budgeting reasons and because the production was unable to turn 2015 Brooklyn back to 1950s Brooklyn.
• Saoirse Ronan was getting a manicure in Dublin when she found out that she had received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the film. In her rush of excitement, she bought champagne for everyone in the salon.
• Saoirse Ronan received 51 award nominations for her performance.

The film is broadcast on HBO 2 and HBO 2 HD on Friday, May 26, at 6:40 PM and Saturday, May 27, at 11:25 AM.

3. Silent Wedding (directed by Horațiu Mălăele; comedy, drama, 2008) is the debut of Horațiu Mălăele as a film director. It is a story about the absurdity of the history and about how single destinies can be ruined by collective blindness; a story about how the most vibrant comedy can become a tragedy. A team of journalists travel to an isolated city inhabited by old women to make a reportage about paranormal activities. The mayor tells them a story from the spring of 1953 when Mara (Meda Andreea Victor) and Iancu (Alexandru Potocean) decided to get married. They planned the wedding on March 5^th. Stalin’s death is announced in the middle of the ceremony.

Silent Wedding is based on a real fact that happened in 1953 in a Romanian village. The story is about a wedding with tragic trails.

You can watch the movie on Sunday, May 28, at 7:55 at Antena Stars and at TV SudEst at 8:00 PM.

We also recommend you the new series of Twin Peaks released after 25 years, as promised in 1992. The story continues with another 18 episodes full of more magic, weird and nostalgic things.

American Gods is another brand new series with a script adapted from Neil Gaiman’s novel. Shadow just got out of prison and wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. But he finds out that she’s been killed in a terrible accident. Shadow meets Wednesday and from that moment on, nothing will ever be the same.

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.