Anonimul International Independent Film Festival

The best Romanian short film at the Anonimul International Independent Film Festival was designated "(In) the Circle", by Andreea Parfenov. "WTF Luci!?", directed by Paul Radu, is the short film to which the Anonimul Foundation awarded the "Ovidiu Bose Paştină" Award.

Corina Sabău, 21.09.2024, 12:06

The best Romanian short film at the Anonimul International Independent Film Festival was designated “(In) the Circle”, by Andreea Parfenov. “WTF Luci!?”, directed by Paul Radu, is the short film to which the Anonimul Foundation awarded the “Ovidiu Bose Paştină” Award.

The 21st edition of the ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival, which took place in Sfântu Gheorghe, included two short film competitions – Romanian and international, a feature film competition, as well as film screenings outside the competitions, that were followed by meetings and dialogues between the filmmakers and the audience.

The horror comedy “WTF Luci”, the result of a creative exercise by the team from 111 FILM & Entertainment, directed by Paul Radu, premiered at this year’s Transilvania TIFF International Film Festival. It also participated in the “Șerban Ionescu” Theater and Film Festival and in the Romanian Film Nights in Iași. “WTF Luci” tells the darkly humorous story of a young man, played by actor Theo Costache. On a seemingly ordinary evening, Luci receives an old chest from his relatives, and after consuming some hallucinogenic mushrooms, the night takes an unexpected turn. What follows is a series of surprising events that turn the comedy into true horror. In addition to Theo Costache, the film also stars Lavinia Pele, as Dee, and Costel Cascaval, as Uncle’.

We spoke with Paul Radu about how the film was received, as his second short reel after OPT (2022), and about his intention to make an experimental film, using mostly horror and comedy genres.

“For me, first of all, it was a test, because I was very curious what the audience’s reaction would be. I mean, I can say that I was satisfied with the result, but I needed, so to speak, some confirmations. And I was primarily interested in the reaction of the audience, I was interested in what feedback I get from people who have seen the film, and I can say that I was satisfied. People loved it and we got all kinds of questions from viewers. As I said before, when I started this film I wanted to play with some cinematic genres, that was my intention. Then I wrote the story, the first draft of the script, which was about two and a half pages at first. I was more interested in experimenting through images than through dialogue. There isn’t muchy dialogue in the film. Yes, that’s what I wanted, to play with some genres, to try different cinematic styles! I was lucky, obviously, to have an amazing team that supported me and believed in this madness. And I had real professionals who were close to me in this endeavor, because it was a challenge. It was a challenge mostly due to the combination of genres I chose to play with, and it could have easily become an embarrassment. What we wanted, both myself and the team, was to be able to tell this story of Luci through cinematic language.”

The short film (In) theCircle, directed by Andreea Parfenov, is the winner of the Audience Award for “Best Romanian Short Film” at the Anonimul International Independent Film Festival, but it also enjoyed screenings at the Romanian Film Evenings (Iași), the Theater Festival and Film “ȘI” (Șerban Ionescu) and in Portugal, as part of “FEST (New Directors New Films Festival)”. Starring Ana Dumitrașcu, Ioana Flora, Ana Maria Pop, Ecaterina-Elena Lupu, the film “(In)the Circle” stars Laura, who, on a night trip, tries to escape for the umpteenth time from her toxic relationship.

Andreea Parfenov told us what the story of (In) the Circle came to life:

“This stage of writing was very long, the script underwent many changes. I went through a similar experience and the hardest thing was to find a way to fictionalize the story, because not all things that happen in reality are filmic and deserve to be told in these audio-visual terms. So, I had to find a formula to fictionalize this whole story that happened to me and translate it into an artistic act, that was the challenge. I was in the position of both characters, I was in the position of the character played by Ana Dumitrașcu, who has to leave, but also in the position of the friends who offer her help as much as they can at that moment, but they still need to focus on their own needs. I understood both points of view and somehow, I thought it was important to tell this story because it seems to me that we always have to pay attention to the people around us, believe them and be with them as much as we can. You have to have a lot of patience and gentleness when the people around you are going through such situations, because it is actually very difficult to break free from a vicious circle. And I don’t mean only a couple relationship, there can be all kinds of situations in our lives, situations from which it is very difficult for us to get out for different reasons, that’s why I think it’s important to be somehow more present and more aware of what happens to the loved ones.”

During the Retrospective of the 21st edition of the ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival that took place in Bucharest, the public was able to preview the film “Three kilometers to the end of the world”, directed by Emanuel Pârvu, selected this year for the Competition Official of the Cannes Festival, where it was awarded the Queer Palm. Recently, the film has been awarded at the Sarajevo Film Festival with the festival’s grand trophy for Best Film and the Cineuropa Award. (MI)