“In my opinion, the major contribution of the Beatles in the culture of the 20th century is that it allowed romanticism to become a mass phenomenon,” Ujica told FNE, adding “I will try to continue exploring the boundaries of the 'New Non-Fiction, which I still see as the most creatively appealing domain in contemporary cinema.”
The film will use original footage from the archives of American TV channels ABC, CBS and NBC, but for the first time in his career the director will shoot fictional scenes with two teenagers playing real characters. Ujica explained that he wants to “reverse the axis around which the fiction films are usually built.”
The film, also known as the Beatles Project, is produced by Bobby Păunescu through Mandragora Movies in Bucharest, Mandragora International Paris and Mandragora International New York. The budget is 3 m EUR, including music and footage rights.
The project received 185,888 EUR (808,616 RON) from the Romanian National Centre for Cinema in November 2011, a production grant of 300,000 EUR from ARTE France and 84,000 EUR from Commission du Film d’Île-de-France.
A research group has been set up in New York: film critic Brent Kite and film archives specialist Michael Chaiken are working with Bruni Burres with Kent Jones supervising. They have been collecting the material since February 2012 and in Bucharest editor and sound editor Dana Bunescu (The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and Ujica began the pre-editing process in July. Ujica will shoot the scenes with actors next summer after finishing the pre-editing draft.
The film is set to be finished in time for the Cannes IFF 2015 and the 50th anniversary of the historical tour. No sales agent is yet on board.
Production information
Mandragora Movies
Bucharest
2-4 Cristian Popisteanu Str., district 1, 10024
Tel: +40 31 620 3503
Fax: +40 21 315 1000
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http://www.mandragoramovies.com/
Paris 29 Rue des Pyramides, 75001
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New York 225 West 13th Street, NY 10011
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