The film follows the story of the friendship between a Romanian security guard in a supermarket and a Turkish refugee he finds at the Romanian-Hungarian border and who asks for help to cross the border. Crişan (Palme d'Or winner for Megatron in 2006) was inspired by a true story he read in a local newspaper from his hometown of Salonta, and wrote a script that won the first feature contest organized by the National Centre for Cinema (www.cncinema.abt.ro) in 2008, receiving a grant of €270,000 for the €890,000 budget film.
Crişan continued his collaboration with the producer Anca Puiu and Mandragora (www.mandragora.ro) who also produced Megatron. The film is co-produced by Marianne Slot of Slot Machine (www.slotmachine.fr), and Ivan Angelusz and Peter Reich from Katapult Film (www.katapultfilm.hu). The shooting took place in Romania and Hungary in 2009. The cast includes the Turkish actor Yalcin Yilmaz and Andras Hathazi, Elvira Râmbu, Dorin C. Zachei, Molnár Levente, Răzvan Vicoveanu and Alina Berzunţeanu. Tudor Mircea is the DOP.
At Locarno Film Festival, it awarded the Special Jury Prize, the Ecumenical Jury Prize, the 3rd Prize of the Junior Jury, and the Don Quijote Prize given by IFFS (the International Federation of Film Societies). Les Films du Losange (www.filmsdulosange.fr) is handling the international sales. The film will be distributed in Romania by Mandragora Movies. Puiu told FNE that the local premiere will probably take place on September 30.
Production information
Mandragora
12 A, Docenţilor street, ap. 3
Sector 1, 011403, Bucureşti, România
Phone: +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.
Slot Machine
10 rue Sainte Anastase
75003 Paris, France
Phone : +33.1. 49. 96. 62. 62
Fax : +33. 1. 49. 96. 62. 63
www.slotmachine.fr
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Katapult Film Filmgyártó és Forgalmazó Kft
H-1023 Budapest Frankel Leó út 21-23. III/8
Phone: +36/1 438-0894, +36/1 438-0895, +36/30 416-6627
www.katapultfilm.hu
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Les Films de Losange
22, avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie
75116 Paris - France
Agathe Valentin: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Credits
Director: Marian Crişan
Script: Marian Crişan
DOP: Tudor Mircea
Editor: Tudor Pojoni
Cast: Yalcin Yilmaz
Andras Hathazi
Elvira Râmbu
Dorin C. Zachei
Molnár Levente
Razvan Vicoveanu
Alina Berzunţeanu
Ion Ruşcuţ
Daniel Vulcu
Dankó István
George Voinese
Petre Ghimbăşan
Zenaida Săsăran
