Between October 18th and 27th, Les Films de Cannes presents across the country the films selected this year at Cannes Film Festival, bringing also a series of events and meetings with directors.

In Bucharest, the official opening of the festival will take place on Friday, October 18th, but the festival starts a day earlier with the section Romania. 30 years later. The films At Christmas-time We Had Our Ration Of Freedom (dir. Cornel Mihalache) and Videograms of a Revolution (dir. Andrei Ujica and Harun Farocki) will be presented at 6.30 pm at Union Cinema, Bucharest. The screening will be followed by a discussion between the film directors and playwright Matei Visniec, architect Dorin Stefan and the mayor of the German town of Görlitz, Octavian Ursu.

The screenings within this section will continue throughout the festival across the country, with free entrance, within the limits of available seating. The films presented in Bucharest, in the presence of the directors, will be Alba ca zapada si cele 7 mineriade (dir. Cornel Mihalache), The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (dir. Andrei Ujica), The Paper Will Be Blue (dir. Radu Muntean) – screenwriter Alex Baciu will also be present at the screening, and Timisoara. December 89 (dir. Ovidiu Bose Pastina).

Also in Bucharest, on October 25th, at Elvire Popesco Cinema you can participate at the discussion How to read a script conducted by Jacques Akchoti, screenwriting and directing professor at La Fémis, and Nicolas Livechi, reader of film screenplays and television formats at Why Not Productions (France).

In the section Short films LA FEMIS, the public will watch short films made by La Fémis graduates and students. The special guest of the event is Julie Tingaud, Director of Professional Development and Training, in charge of International Relations at La Fémis, who will introduce the films and hold an open discussion with the public at the end of the screening.

Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest has initiated the project Une minute de vie / Une minute de cinema, which this year will include workshops in six high schools in Bucharest where a mentor will talk to high school students about the narrative structure, the manipulative nature of visual language, fake news, and the pleasure of filmmaking. Each participant will make their own 1-minute film, and these films will be screened on October 27th at 3:30 pm, at Peasant Museum Cinema. The jury will choose the best film from each high school.

Work in progress is another key event of Les Films de Cannes, and this year 23 projects produced or co-produced in Romania, now in post-production, will be presented to programmers from some of the most prestigious film festivals in Europe and to representatives of post-production funding.

The workshop Managing Talents returns this year, too. It will be held by the casting agent Manuel Puro, and will also include an open casting session for male and female roles in the film Father Moves Mountains (dir. Daniel Sandu).

The program of Les Films de Cannes à Bucharest includes Romanian short film sets, screened in the presence of the directors and with free entrance, as well as the section Lost and Found Neighbours where you can watch films from neighboring countries.

Of the most important films of this edition we mention:

1. La Gomera, the latest film by Corneliu Porumboiu

2. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho), 2019 Palme d’Or winner

3. Timebox (dir. Nora Agapi) – in the presence of the team

4. Being Romanian: A Family Journal (dir. Serban Georgescu) – in the presence of the team

5. Ivana the Terrible (dir. Ivana Mladenovic) – in the presence of the team

6. Lost and found (by Cristian Mungiu, Stefan Arsenijevic, Nadejda Koseva, Mait Laas, Kornél Mundruczó, Jasmila Zbanic) – in the presence of the team

7. Les plus belles ans d’une vie (dir. Claude Lelouch) – followed by an Open Talk with the director (entrance is free, limited seating)

8. The Death of Louis XIV (dir. Albert Serra) – in the presence of the director, followed by an Open Talk (entrance to the Open Talk is free, limited seating)

The full program can be found here.

In Cluj-Napoca, Les Films de Cannes will take place between October 18-20, at Victoria Cinema.

Andrei Ujica is among the guests of this year’s edition of Les Films de Cannes à Cluj and he will be attending the Q&A session after the screening of his film, Videograms of a Revolution, on Saturday, October 19th. Actors Daniel Plier and Emil Mandanac, and director Adi Voicu are also among the guests present in Cluj.

The program also includes the films Maria, Queen of Romania (dir. Alexis Sweet Cahill) and Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (dir. Céline Sciamma) – Best Screenplay Award, Cannes 2019; the film will be preceded by the short film The Last Trip to the Seaside (dir. Adi Voicu) – Semaine de la Critique, Cannes.

The full program can be found here.

The third edition in Brasov takes place between October 23-27 at Reduta Cultural Center and Cinema One.

In Brasov you can watch:

1. Maria, Queen of Romania (dir. Alexis Sweet Cahill), preceded by the short film The Last Trip to the Seaside (dir. Adi Voicu)

2. Little Joe (dir. Jessica Hausner) – Best Actress Award, Cannes 2019 (special screening for students – by invitation only)

3. Alba ca zapada si cele 7 mineriade (dir. Cornel Mihalache); free entrance.

4. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho)

The full program can be found here.

Les Films de Cannes à Timisoara takes place between October 18-20, at the Aula Magna of the West University. Entrance is free.

The films screening in Timisoara are:

1. Bienvenido Mister Marshall (dir. Luis Garcia Berlanga) – International Prize for Comedy Film, Cannes 1953; the film is presented in the Focus Spain section, offered by the Cervantes Institute, with the support of the Film Library of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation in Spain.

2. Dolor Y Gloria (dir. Pedro Almodóvar) – Best Actor Award, Cannes 2019

3. Matthias and Maxime (dir. Xavier Dolan) – in competition, Cannes 2019

4. Maria, Queen of Romania (dir. Alexis Sweet Cahill)

The full program can be found here.

Les Films de Cannes à Iasi will take place between October 18-20, at Ateneu Cinema. The films on October 18th and 19th will be introduced by Irina Margareta Nistor.

The program includes films such as:

1. Cannes, Le Festival Libre (dir. Frédéric Chaudier and Frédéric Zamochnikoff). The screening will be followed by the presentation of the book Cannes 1939. Le festival qui n’a pas eu lieu, by Olivier Loubes.

2. Chuck Norris Vs Communism (dir. Ilinca Calugareanu)

The full program can be found here.

In Arad, Les Films de Cannes takes place between October 25-27, at ARTA Cinema.

Entrance is free, limited seating.

Of the participating films we mention:

1. Les Miserables (dir. Ladj Ly)

2. Matthias and Maxime (dir. Xavier Dolan)

3. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho)

The full program can be found here.

Between November 1-3, Les Films de Cannes arrives in Suceava as well, and the program includes the films:

1. La Gomera / The Whistlers (dir. Corneliu Porumboiu) – followed by a Q&A with actor George Pistereanu + (after the screening) The Last Trip to the Seaside (dir. Adi Voicu) – followed by a Q&A with the director

2. Being Romanian: A Family Journal (dir. Serban Georgescu) – followed by a Q&A with the director

3. Alba ca zapada si cele 7 mineriade (dir. Cornel Mihalache) – followed by a Q&A with the director

4.  Maria, Queen of Romania (dir. Alexis Sweet Cahill) – followed by a Q&A with the director

The full program can be found here.

In Botosani, Les Films de Cannes takes place between October 20-22, at Unirea Cinema.

The public can watch:

1. Cannes, Le Festival Libre (dir. Frédéric Chaudier and Frédéric Zamochnikoff). The screening will be followed by the presentation of the book Cannes 1939. Le festival qui n’a pas eu lieu, by Olivier Loubes.

2. Dolor Y Gloria (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)

3. La Gomera / The Whistlers (dir. Corneliu Porumboiu) – followed by a Q&A with actor Vlad Ivanov (free entrance)

The full program can be found here.

Les Films de Cannes takes place between October 18-27 in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Suceava, Botosani, Iasi, Arad, Timisoara, Brasov.

For the screenings in Bucharest, tickets can be purchased from Eventbook.ro or from the partner cinemas. For more details go here.

And for complete information about the festival and the program, go to the Filme de Festival website.

Melissa Antonescu

Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.