Shining Through a Long, Dark Night:
Romanian Cinema, Then and Now
April 16 – 27, 2008
Every now and then in film a tangible if invisible phenomenon, a “talent cloud,” descends upon a nation, and its filmmakers turn out impressive numbers of wonderful films that reinvigorate the medium. Such has been the case with the remarkable Romanian “new wave” of the past five or six years. After the crowning achievement of last year’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days — winner of both the Grand Prize at Cannes and Felix for Best Film — Romanian cinema has been, deservedly, the talk of critics and bloggers, as well as avid moviegoers.
Yet, few if any movements in film don’t have solid roots in the past. The great achievements of Romania’s emerging filmmakers such as Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, Ruxandra Zenide were foreshadowed by earlier generations—Liviu Ciulei, Lucian Pintilie, Dan Pita, Mircea Daneliuc, Alexandru Tatos, among others. With Shining Through a Long, Dark Night, the Film Society, in collaboration with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, brings together many of the finest recent Romanian films with a selection of key films from the pre-1989 Romania cinema. Through this series, we hope to introduce the lively — if frequently interrupted by censorship—tradition of Romanian filmmaking that forms the deep foundation for the current cinematic explosion that has led some critics to claim that Romanians have re-invented the art film.
For a listing of the films in the series go to Program Overview.
Click on
Calendar to view the schedule, film descriptions and to purchase tickets online.
This series was programmed by Richard Peña and organized by the Film Society in collaboration with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, and in partnership with the Romanian National Center for Cinema, the National Film Archive, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture of Romania. Special thanks to Corina Suteu and Oana Radu for their tireless support of the series. Thanks also to the Co-Production Office.
