Back from a professional trip to Paris, a neurologist at the pinnacle of his career has to pick up his wife so that they can attend a family meal to commemorate his father, who died a year before. At his mother's flat, the guests are waiting for the priest to arrive while arguing about all kinds of things connected and unconnected with the world’s events and wars.
“Sierra-Nevada is a story about a commemoration that never gets to take place, a story about those who choose to escape into fiction and hide their fears behind ‘concrete reality’ when overwhelmed by a grief they cannot understand. It is the imperfect restitution of an unorthodox requiem,” Cristi Puiu says in Director’s Notes.
Anca Puiu is producing through the company she founded with her husband Cristi Puiu, Mandragora, in coproduction with Lucian Pintilie through Studioul de Creaţie Cinematografică Romania, Mirsad Purivatra and Sabina Branković through 2006 d.o.o. from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zdenka Gold through Croatia's Spiritus Movens, Labina Mitevska through Macedonia's Sisters and Brother Mitevski Production and Laurence Clerc and Olivier Thiery Lapiney through France’s Alcatraz Films.
The budget is between 1,250,000 and 1.4 m EUR, Anca Puiu told FNE. The project received approximately 367,000 EUR/1,639,000 RON from the Romanian National Film Centre in April 2014, 200,000 EUR from Eurimages in December 2014 and 91,500 EUR from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre in spring of 2014. Macedonian Film Fund is also supporting with 84,000 EUR.
Shooting started in Bucharest in January 2015 and will wrap in March 2015. The main character is played by Mimi Brănescu (Călin Peter Netzer's Child’s Pose produced by Parada Film). Barbu Bălăşoiu (Bogdan Mustata’s Lupu produced by Strada Film) is the DoP. The film is expected to be finished in 2015 with the premiere set for 2016. Wild Bunch is handling the sales.
Production information:
Mandragora
4 Ghe. Bratianu street
Bucharest 1, Romania
Zip Code: 011413
Mobile: +40 722 364 132
Tel: +40 21 222 05 58
Fax: +40 21 222 05 57
www.mandragora.ro
Anca Puiu: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Studiul de Creaţie Cinematografică
Pitar Mos nr. 9
Phone: +4 021 222 82 91
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Spiritus Movens
Rakušina 5
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 614 55 38
Fax: +385 1 614 55 38
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.spiritus-movens.hr
Credits:
Director: Cristi Puiu
Script: Cristi Puiu
DoP: Barbu Bălăşoiu
Cast: Mimi Brănescu
