One of the most successful Romanian films last year
\nwas Nora, written and directed by Carla-Maria Teaha. The first foray into
\ndocumentary film-making from Teaha, who has previously worked as an actor and
\nradio journalist, the film follows Nora Iuga, one of the most important writers
\nin this country, who turned 93 years old on 4th January. Released in
\n2023 at the Transylvania International Film Festival and also screened at
\nAnonimul and Astra Film Festival, Nora creates a touching portrait of
\nthis charismatic writer and poet who made her debut in 1968 with a
\nbook of poems (Vina nu e a mea), received a number of awards from the Writers’
\nUnion and has remained very active, publishing an autobiographical
\nnovel (Hipodrom) in 2020 and another book of poems in 2023 (Feti\u0163a strig\u0103-n
\npahar, Nemira).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shot over the course of four years, the film also
\ncaptures Nora Iuga’s fascinating inner life as she has retained her
\nyouth and contagious exuberance, as well as the special friendship
\nbetween her and the director, who accompanies Iuga at the Frankfurt
\nBook Fair. We spoke to Carla-Maria Teaha about how she created
\nthe documentary film and the enthusiastic response of the public:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I didn’t have a certain script in
\nmind, especially for our trip to Frankfurt. From the very beginning I
\nwanted the dialogue to be created by speaking freely with Nora. Starting
\nfrom what would appear to be mere chit-chat, my intention was
\nto get Nora Iuga to tell her stories, because along with other qualities,
\nshe is a fascinating story-teller and the camera loves her. This is why I never
\nfelt the need to introduce other characters that would speak about her. As this
\nis my first film and I didn’t have a lot of experience in this area, I relied a
\nlot on my intuition and I wanted to show Nora Iuga as I see her. I decided I
\nwanted it to be a film about this Nora Iuga even if I would fail, so I based it
\non the chemistry between us and the things that I find touching about her. And
\nwhat’s fascinating is that people were able to relate to me, to this image I
\nhad of her. Deep down I hoped this would happen, I hoped Nora Iuga’s charm
\nwould have the same effect on the public that she had on me. Moreover, I worked
\nvery hard on this film. I was brimming with joy at the reaction of the
\naudience, when, at TIFF, the film received standing ovations after the first
\nscreening, on June 14 last year. People also stayed for the Q&A session,
\nnobody left. And somehow that very strong impact the film had on the audience
\ndid not diminish at all, after the screening in theatres people stay in there a
\nlittle longer and applaud, even though we’re not speaking about a special event
\nand we are not there with them to have discussions. I am very happy because of that, I am happy
\nbecause film had such an impact and because it has done its job, I am happy it
\ntouches people. I really thought it was just as normal for Nora Iuga’s fans to
\nbe keen on watching the film, but I am also glad that even those who didn’t
\nknow her or were unfamiliar with her work, fell in love with her. So many
\npeople told me that, having watched the documentary, they bought her books,
\nsearched for interviews with her, they were even looking for info about her. It
\nis wonderful that, through this film, we succeeded to bring fil aficionados and
\nreader together, these two bubbles somehow met, which is great, I think.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Before becoming a writer, Nora Iuga wanted to become
\nan actress, so the documentary made by Carla Maria-Teaha made Nora Iuga’s dream
\ncome true.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To tell you the truth, I wanted
\nto become an actress ever since I was in high-school. I ‘ve always wanted to
\nbecome an actress, perhaps it is something that comes from my family, my
\nparents were artists and so were my grandparents. My mother was a ballerina,
\nfather, a violinist, one of the grannies was an opera singer, a grandparent was
\na stage director, so I never thought of myself as taking a career path which
\nwas different from that of an actress. I have always dreamed of that, what’s
\nmost astonishing is the fact that I have never ceased to want to become an
\nactress, even after the great actor Radu Beligan flunked me at the Drama School
\nadmission exam, telling me my elocution was not good enough. I personally do
\nnot think there is a problem with my elocution, other people didn’t tell me
\nthat either, yet I cannot question Radu Beligan either. Now, returning to the film
\nmade by Carla Maria Teaha, as days go by, it comes as something clearer and
\nclearer to me that it was all about a miracle, a very old dream of mine came
\ntrue just now, after a lifetime.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mircea C\u0103rt\u0103rescu heaped praise on Nora Iuga’s most
\nrecent poetry volume. Fetita striga-n pahar is hitherto the peak
\nof Nora Iuga’s poetry and one of the most powerful poetry books I have read
\nrecently. It is like a shrapnel exploding in your face, spreading splinters,
\nshards, rough pieces of metal, of memory, of brain, of quotes, of any kind of
\nstuff suitable to write on your skin the judgement of a fragmented, abused
\nbeauty .<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A successful documentary film pays tribute to one of Romania’s most prominent living authors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":588200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44685],"tags":[116735,35344,116734,37474,35436,42954],"coauthors":[113268],"class_list":["post-622377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-of-culture","tag-actress","tag-documentary","tag-inner","tag-poetry","tag-world","tag-writer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n