Romanian film review – Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, KineDok, and a week of love in Timișoara

February might not be the most thrilling month for local cinema events but this year it’s a good one!

The most exciting is happening in Bucharest as we speak, until Sunday. Il Cinema Ritrovato, (“cinema re-discovered”), in the Italian town of Bologna, has been around for more than thirty-five years and it is the most important festival dedicated to film restoration, the preservation of original film material, in short: no less than the history of cinema, worldwide. A superb festival, it has on-tour editions and the first one has arrived here. The films are shown at cinema Elvire Popescu. Do not miss the four shorts by Cecilia Mangini, considered the first female Italian documentary filmmaker; Luchino Visconti’s opulent period epic Ludwig; and, true to the festival’s mission, a restored Romanian sci-fi animation from 1987, Mircea Toia and Călin Cazan’s Fiul Stelelor (The Son of the Stars). The talks are hosted by the National University of Theatre and Film, UNATC. You can find the schedule and all info on the event's Facebook page. The fest is curated by film journalist Călin Boto, and you can find some of Călin’s musings on Il Cinema Ritrovato and cinema in general here. Always a delight.

Another on-tour event is KineDok, an initiative that brings recent documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe to unconventional spaces. Until 28 February, the event travels to Arad, Bârlad, Cluj-Napoca, Botoșani, and Bistrița. The entrance is free, and the documentaries are insightful and very moving takes on personal histories in the context of a larger historical and political context, such as Nikoloz Bezhanishvili’s wry The Northeast Winds, a look at the Georgian town of Gori, Stalin’s birthplace, and the reactions to his statue being removed from the central square; the collective story of (female) grief, trauma and collective strength in Vedrana Pribačić’s Bigger than Trauma; or Tomáš Kratochvíl’s heart-warming Ponto Calling, the story of the eponymous Roma hero fighting for his community. I am so happy to be able to recommend screenings in other places than the usual cinema-spoiled Bucharest or Cluj-Napoca and am thrilled that such events are organised.