George (30) is a film maker and he keeps a video diary of his daily life. He is filming totally fascinated the center of Bucharest during the street protests and is caught, beaten and forced to delete all the footage. In the "Black Maria" he is facing a moral dilemma: to accept the guilt and go home or to have the courage to resist until the end.
Synopsis:
George (30) has returned in Romania after finishing his film studies in Germany, and is keeping a visual diary about his life back home. He lives with his girlfriend Ana (30) who motivated him to return home and with his mother, whose fondness toward him and whose way to treat him like a child annoys him.
Meanwhile in Bucharest protesters gather against the government. George gets interested in this event and wants to film it for his diary.
The atmosphere turns tense as the gendarmes try to evacuate the square and the protesters become violent. After a chaotic moment, George finds himself facing the gendarmes and is captured by them.
George is beaten up by the gendarmes and forced to erase everything he filmed and to get in the black maria (wagon) together with other protesters. George is brutalized all the way to the police station for being an objective witness of the abuse. The gendarmes transform themselves into interrogators who want to establish the guilty through terror. At the crowded police station George is led by sub-lieutenant Dogaru, who acts as if he understands the situation but tries to manipulate him to accept a warning instead of paying a fine. George refuses to accept the statement of being guilty, so he is taken in a room and left under supervision. He is exhausted after a long waiting time so he accepts the guilt and another gendarme takes him to be fingerprinted, photographed and filmed.
George and Ana drive back home. The only image George still thinks about is the protester laying beaten up on the police bench and a deep feeling of guilt overwhelms him, while Ana is talking about how they should proceed to get him out of the police database.
Commentary about the script and programme:
Fear, manipulation and compromise are the three indispensable ingredients that turn an individual into a victim of a system. George looses against a system, accepting the guilt without being guilty.I’ve decided to write Black Maria after a personal experience. While I was filming the protests in the center of Bucharest, in January 2012, I was arrested, threatened, forced to delete what I had filmed, then I was taken with a police van at the station and forced to sign a statement that I’m guilty of disturbing the peace.Scripteast was an intense laboratory where I was able to work at my project with film professionals who are truly interested in cinema. It is very nice to have the chance to talk about your ideas for days and to have someone by your side who is interested to listen.
BIO Adi Voicu:
Graduated from Film University U.N.A.T.C. “I.L.. Caragiale” Bucharest (Diploma in Visual Arts and Film) and National University of Theater and Film “I.L.Caragiale”, Bucharest
His last documentary “Victoria” (awarded by HBO for Best Documentary Script) produced by Mandragora and HBO was selected to Visions du réel, Nyon, International Documentary Festival London, Open City Documentary Festival London, Astra International Documentary Festival Sibiu 2011 and Jihlava International Documentary Festival 2011.
His previous documentary “Metrobranding” (Adi was working on that film as director, scriptwriter and DoP) supported by CNC produced by Mandragora and distributed at cinemas, had a national premiere at European Film Festival 2011, chosen as one of the 5 films of the year by Doc Alliance 2010 and screened at many festivals a.o.: Visions du reel, Nyon 2010, Planet Doc Warsaw 2010, Dok Leipzig, 2010, IDFF JIhlava Dok festival 2010, CPH:DOX Copenhagen 2010 selected in TopDox Selection, DMZ South Korea 2010, Zagreb Dox 2011, TIFF International Film Festival 2011,Lume International Documentary Festival Brazil 2011, Open City Documentary Festival London 2011.
Information Courtesy of ScripTeast
contact:
Violetta Kaminska
Independent Film Foundation
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