Dragoș, a Romanian film director in his forties decides to make a movie about his family's emigration to Germany in the 80s, that followed his mother’s extramarital affair. Because the emigration was done under suspicious conditions, Dragoș investigates undercover, with help from his former girlfriend, Ilinca. The collaboration brings the two closer together, however complicating things with his fiancee. As Dragoș delves deeper into his family's past, secrets come to light, leading to revelations about certain ties with the Secret Service. Trapped in his own story and with his fiancée announcing her pregnancy, Dragoș must make a decision that will impact the future of everyone involved.
Director Călin Peter Netzer wrote the script together with main actress Iulia Lumânare (role of Ilinca) and produced together with Oana Iancu through Parada Film, the company behind Netzer’s Child’s Pose and Ana, Mon Amour, Marius Olteanu’s debut feature Monsters and Claudiu Mitcu's documentary Two of Us.
Călin Peter Netzer collected some of the most prestigious international film awards with his previous four films: his first feature film Maria (2003) took the Grand Prix, Leopard for Best Actor and Leopard for Best Actress in Locarno and was nominated for the European Film Awards. Medal of Honor (2009) was selected to more than 30 international festivals and awarded in Thessaloniki, Turin, Miami, Durres, Los Angeles and Zagreb. Child's Pose (2013) won the Golden Bear for the Best Feature Film at the Berlinale, thus becoming the first Romanian film to ever receive this prize. In 2017 Călin returned to the Official Selection of the Berlinale with Ana, Mon Amour and won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
“The film will be built with the thoroughness of a detective investigation,” states Călin Peter Netzer. “Using the present as a tool that makes the past intelligible, my main character Dragoș instinctively recreates the mise-en-scene of the past, recreating the love triangle his parents once had formed and that had led to the never reconciled disruption of the family. Familiar will be a complex story about our ever profound search for identity and truth.”
Tassilo Hallbauer, Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Beta Cinema states, “We are very happy to continue our collaboration with Călin Peter Netzer and Parada Film after the enormous success we had with his previous films, not only at the festivals but also selling his films to more than 25 territories. In Familiar, Călin Peter Netzer shows his distinctive signature again, delivering an intimate yet rapturous drama in which the lead character tries to force the truth to come to light.”
The cast is rounded out with Ana Ciontea, Adrian Titieni, Victoria Moraru and Vlad Ivanov next to Iulia Lumânare and Emanuel Pârvu. Barbu Bălășoiu and Andrei Butică served as directors of photography, Dana Bunescu is editing the film that currently is in postproduction. Cinema DeFacto, Gaïjin and Volos Films produced together with Parada Film, support came from The Romanian Center of Cinematography, Taiwan Creative Content Agency, Taiwan’s International Co-funding Program (TICP), Aide aux cinémas du monde - Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée - Institut Français and Creative Europe MEDIA of the European Union. Beta Cinema will start preselling Familiar at the upcoming Marché du Film in Cannes.
