The theme of the 2024 festival was Through the Looking Glass. Lewis Carroll used this metaphor in his writing to describe an unfamiliar or abnormal setting or situation. The phrase can be used to describe a world that suddenly appears unfamiliar, as if things were turned upside down, similar to looking out from inside a mirror to find a world that’s both recognizable and yet turned inside-out. It is like a confusing looking glass world or a mysterious looking glass philosophy.
Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear is also a well-known phrase that makes us aware of how reflected images are different from the real world. When we look at ourselves in the mirror or at things through a magnifying glass we see a reversed or enlarged version of reality. That is, in a way, what movies do: project it onto the screen into a distorted, sometimes strange parallel world.
After the fall of communism in 1989, a Romanian New Wave cinema emerged as an austere, realist, and minimalist, often accompanied by black humor type of film. It is an art form that has received a lot of acclaim, almost every year being awarded at prestigious international film festivals. Still, watching a Romanian movie is not a “sit back and relax” type of experience. It requires the audience to do an intense intellectual and emotional exercise and ask themselves questions that might not always get answers. It might be intriguing, controversial, irreverent, shocking, funny, a tragedy and dark comedy at the same time. The world portrayed in them is most often the opposite of normal or what is expected, and the characters’ personalities are hard to decipher. They are convoluted and tormented, enigmatic and insecure in their relationships and self-search. They are portrayed as if through a magnifying glass, as if in a twilight zone, leaving it to the viewer to try to make their own inferences.
We hope you found this year’s films interesting and will come back for more next year. We will continue the tradition and hope to grow in audience. Making Romanian culture, though its many forms, known to the American public is HORA’s mission.
This year’s edition has been possible through a grant from Minnesota Humanities Center and the generous support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. This work is funded in part by MHC with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
This year we partnered with the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Society to offer you amazing films in state of the art cinemas. The festival took place between November 2-10, in person at The Main Cinema, 115 SE Main St, Minneapolis, MN 55414. All movies were in Romanian language with English subtitles.
Journeys of Identity
Romanian Immigration Stories of Resilience
Saturday, November 2, 2024
2024, 60′, English Followed by Q & A
We are kicking this year’s festival with our own documentary production, the third in a series of projects documenting the Romanian footprint in Minnesota. This groundbreaking documentary offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the lives of Romanian immigrants and their families, who have journeyed across continents to make Minnesota their home. Through candid interviews and personal stories, Journeys of Identity explores themes of cultural adaptation, intergenerational identity, and the enduring spirit of resilience that defines the immigrant experience.
Find details about this documentary here.
Event Schedule:
3:30 PM: Reception
Kick off the evening with a warm reception and enjoy live music by the talented Duo Fara Nume: Colleen Bertsch and Eric Ray, setting the tone for a memorable experience.
4:00 PM: Opening Remarks
Dorian Branea, Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute NY, will provide opening remarks, setting the stage for the evening’s program.
4:15 PM: Documentary Screening
Experience the full screening of Journeys of Identity: Romanian Immigration Stories of Resilience. This powerful documentary captures the heartfelt journeys of Romanian immigrants to Minnesota, exploring their adaptation to a new life and the intergenerational connections with their heritage.
5:15 PM: Panel Discussion and Reflections
Engage in a thought-provoking Q&A session with filmmakers and individuals featured in the documentary. Gain deeper insights, ask questions, and interact directly with those who brought these powerful stories to life.
Notes:
Free parking is available in the designated parking lot or on the street.
This project was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Horia
Friday November 8, 5-7 pm
2023, 108’, Romanian
Followed by Q&A
Ana-Maria Comănescu’s coming-of-age drama talks about how we are sometimes obsessed with the finish line and ignore the small steps necessary to get there. After directing several shorts which traveled the world, Horia competed in the Romanian Days sidebar at this year’s Transilvania International Film Festival.
Written by the director, Horia follows the titular character, a 17-year-old living in a small village with his father, a mechanic. When Horia succeeds in passing his graduation exams, his father gives him his old Mobra motorbike (together with some life advice that stresses the generation gap between them), a gift that doesn’t impress the teenager at all. Following a fight with his dad, Horia will run away from home on the Mobra, starting a journey across the country to reunite with the girl he has a crush on. And now is the perfect time for the director to put obstacles in his path, which makes Horia an even rarer beast in Romanian cinema: a road movie and coming-of-age story.
Warboy
Saturday November 9, 3-5 pm
2023, 85’, Romanian
Followed by Q&A
Fall of 1944. World War II is coming to an end. The movie tells the emotionally charged story of a teenager who, in an attempt to save his family’s two horses, embarks on an initiatory journey, crossing the wild landscape of the Apuseni Mountains. With a blend of genres including adventure, war film, children’s film, and western, WARBOY is a movie for the whole family.
“I like to work with non-professional actors”, director Marian Crisan states. “I think this gives more truth to the whole film. I look for faces, for attitudes, for the sensation they give on screen when testing. I think that what I am trying to convey is that the story of this teenager from 1944 is universally valid, no matter when the war happens.”
Where Elephants Go (Unde Merg Elefantii?)
Saturday November 9, 5-7 pm
2024, 115’, Romanian
Followed by Q&A
Whimsical, funny and touching, Romanian directorial duo Gabi Virginia Şarga and Cătălin Rotaru’s film nevertheless doesn’t shy away from difficult topics. Romanian directorial duo return to the spotlight, which marks a sudden change in their tone and has landed them a spot in as many as three sidebars at the 23rd Transilvania International Film Festival: the official competition, the Romanian Days competition and the Smart7 Festival Network strand and it will be presented at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival in November
The movie seems to cater for an audience eager for a lighter touch than the usual bleak, drab and morose Romanian drama. By telling a story about three characters at a certain place in their lives, where they seemingly have nothing more to lose, Şarga and Rotaru’s sophomore directorial effort playfully points the finger at society’s expectations. The film also talks about how we lie to ourselves and to others in order to make life more bearable. “In case of problems, use fiction or wear a colorful, crocheted hat,” the film seems to say. Horia-Romanian-Film-Festival-2024
Three Kilometers to the End of the World (Trei Kilometri pana la Capatul Lumii)
Sunday November 10, 1-3 pm
2024, 115’, Romanian
Followed by Q&A
Actor-turned-director Emanuel Pârvu examines the fallout of a homophobic assault in a rural community from multiple perspectives. Set in a conservative Danube Delta community, a gay teenager’s journey of self-discovery clashes with the traditional values upheld by his parents and neighbors. This film was a Palme d’Or contender at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and took home the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival for best feature film. Emanuel Parvu films a sick and yet so ordinary society, entangled in beliefs from another time, shaped by the gaze of others and the fear of the neighbor’s denunciation, tortured by corruption at every level, right down to the gendarmes, more inclined to excuse the facts – and even seek to cover them up – than to find and judge the aggressors.
Romanian Film Festival Fundraiser
Help support the arts and bring Romanian films to Minnesota. Your gift now is an investment in preserving Romanian heritage in Minnesota. Any amount will make a difference and will be highly appreciated. During the Give to the MAX this November, we need to raise $5,000 to cover the organizing costs for the 2025 Romanian Film Festival.
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