The film is produced by Mobra Films (www.mobrafilms.ro), the company Hoefer founded together with the filmmaker Cristian Mungiu and the DOP Oleg Mutu. The documentary received a first production grant of 87,738 euro from the Romanian National Centre for Cinema (www.cncinema.abt.ro) in summer 2010. The budget is tentatively planned at 261,000 euro, but Hoefer told FNE that a more specific budget is difficult to estimate at this stage, given the fact the film will use a lot of archive material and also original shooting.
The dates and length of the shoot are still to be determined and will be based on how much archival footage is still in existence. The film will be shot in Romania and abroad. The project has presented one pitch, at Sunnyside of the Doc, Sofia (www.sunnysideofthedoc.com/uk/s_rdv_copro_sofia) where it was received with interest. Producer Mungiu is now looking for foreign co-producers. An agreement with the Romanian public television is also expected.
The Fountain of Youth will investigate in a detached and amusing way the myth of one of the most popular and controversial Romanian brands in the communist era, while also painting the atmosphere of the 1970's. It will use footage from Romanian public television (www.tvr.ro), the Film National Archives, and Sahia Studio, including documentaries about the scientist Ana Aslan, reports, cinema news, and advertisements. There will be also interviews with people connected with Gerovital, from doctors and Communist Party representatives to celebrities who followed the treatment.
Hoefer plans to shoot on 16mm, in keeping with the style of the archive footage.
Production Information
Mobra Films
Intrarea Serdarului, 5
Bucharest, Romania
Phone/ Fax: +40 21 6664827
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