METRONOM

Saturday, October 15 – Truffaut Theatre – 1:40 pm
(Screening ends at 3:25 pm)
Followed by a conversation with writer/director Alexandru Belc

FICTION / DRAMA
WORLD CINEMA CO-PRODUCED BY FRANCE

Presented in Association with:
Pyramide International

West Coast Premiere | Roumania – France | 2023 | Drama | 102 min | In Roumanian with English subtitles

Directed by: Alexandru Belc
Written by: Alexandru Belc
Produced by: Cătălin Mitulescu & Ruxandra Slotea (Strada Film International), Viorel Chesaru (Chainsaw Europe), Martine Vidalenc & Emmanuel Quillet (Midralgar)
Cinematography: Tudor Vladimir Panduru
Film Editing: Patricia Chelaru
Cast: Mara Bugarin (Ana), Şerban Lazarovici (Sorin), Vlad Ivanov (Biris), Mihai Calin (Ana’s father), Andreea Bibiri (Ana’s mother), Mara Vicol (Roxana)
International Sales: Pyramide International 

Alexandru Belc‘s languid-yet-searing first feature begins as any coming-of-age drama might.  Seventeen-year-old Ana is inconsolable over the fact that her boyfriend is moving away.  She’s so distraught, she vacillates about whether or not to even attend his going-away party that evening, where her classmates will dance and listen to music and make out in dark corners.  A soft-spoken story of first love and first heartbreak…  However, Ana lives in Bucharest and the year is 1972, at the turning point in communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s horrific totalitarian regime.  At a time when listening to Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison tunes on Radio Free Europe’s Metronom program is outlawed and could have the secret police pounding on your door.  It’s also a time when the disappointment of young love pales beside the need to stand up for one’s principles.  A time when an entire generation is coerced into complicity, as their freedoms and human rights are stripped away, one by one.

After attending film school, Romanian writer/director Alexandru Belc worked as a script supervisor and assistant director on iconic Romanian New Wave films, like Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) and Corneliu Porumboiu’s Police, Adjective (2009).  He then turned to the documentary genre, directing 8th of March (2012) and Cinema, Mon Amour (2015).  Metronom, Belc’s first narrative feature, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it was honored with the Best Director Award.  It subsequently nabbed the Best International Film Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival.