Shining through a Long, Dark Night: Romanian Cinema, Then and Now

"Over the past few years, current Romanian cinema has established an extraordinary reputation; its films continue to be awarded major festival prizes, and increasingly international audiences are discovering and supporting these powerful if often disturbing films. Yet this movement did not emerge from a vacuum; since the Sixties, there has been a continuous output of formally innovative and politically daring works, made under remarkably difficult conditions and often running afoul of government censorship. This trend reached its apogee in the 1970s, when a generation of provocative filmmakers formed a kind of "new wave" that challenged the film establishment. With Shining through a Long, Dark Night, several of the finest recent film have been brought together with key works of pre-1989 Romanian cinema—showing both the continuities and contrasts, as well as celebrating an extraordinarily lively—if frequently interrupted—cinematic tradition."— Richard Pena, Program Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center

Presenting Romanian classic films by the likes of Lucian Pintilie, Liviu Ciulei, Iulian Mihu, Dan Piţa or Mircea Daneliuc (all in new prints), alongside recent works by Cristian Mungiu, Cristi Puiu, Radu Muntean or Ruxandra Zenide, among others, this retrospective is the first historical overview of Romanian cinema in America after 1989.

The series is organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in collaboration with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, and in partnership with the National Center for Cinema in Bucharest, the National Film Archive in Bucharest, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Romanian Ministry of Culture. Film directors and Romanian film critics will be present for the screenings and other special events.

[Illustration: Dan Nutu and Irina Petrescu in Sunday at Six (Romania, 1965, d. Lucian Pintilie)]

Calendar:

WED, Apr 16
2 pm The Pale Light of Sorrow (d. Iulian Mihu, 1980)
8 pm Sunday at Six (d. Lucian Pintilie, 1965)

THU, Apr 17
1 pm Occident (d. Cristian Mungiu, 2002)
3:10 pm Love Sick (d. Tudor Giurgiu, 2006)
7:30 pm Panel on Romanian Cinema (hosted by RCINY)

FRI, Apr 18
12:30 pm Don’t Lean Out the Window (d. Nae Caranfil, 1994)
2:40 pm Maria (d. Peter-Călin Netzer, 2003)
4:45 pm Ryna (d. Ruxandra Zenide, 2005)
6:50 pm Occident
9:15 pm Ryna

SAT, Apr 19
1:15 pm Return of the Banished (d. Malvina Urşianu, 1979)
4:10 pm The Paper Will Be Blue (d. Radu Muntean, 2006)
6:20 pm Contest (d. Dan Piţa, 1982)
8:30 pm Forest of the Hanged (d. Liviu Ciulei, 1964)

SUN, Apr 20
12 pm The Pale Light of Sorrow
2:50 pm Maria
5:10 pm Microphone Test (d. Mircea Daneliuc, 1980)
7:10 pm A Girl’s Tear (d. Iosif Demian, 1980)
9:00 pm Don’t Lean Out the Window

MON, Apr 21
1:45 pm Contest
4:00 pm A Girl’s Tear
6:00 pm The Paper Will Be Blue

TUE, Apr 22 1:00 pm Return of the Banished
3:45 pm Microphone Test
8:30 pm Sunday at Six

WED, Apr 23
1:00 pm Circus Performers (d. Elisabeta Bostan, 1981)
3:00 pm Sequences (d. Alexandru Tatos, 1982)
5:00 pm Adela (d. Mircea Veroiu, 1985)
7:00 pm 12:08 East of Bucharest (d. Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006)
9:00 pm Adela

THU, Apr 24
1:00 pm The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (d. Cristi Puiu, 2005)
4:00 pm Forest of the Hanged

SAT, Apr 26
8:15 pm Sequences

SUN, Apr 27
1:30 pm Love Sick
3:30 pm Circus Performers
5:30 pm 12:08 East of Bucharest
7:20 pm The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

For more information about the films, see our dossiers:
Romanian Cinema Tradition
& Romanian Cinema Rising

Press Dossier