The Spruce Forest: Tudor Giurgiu's film on lesser-known episode in Romania's recent history to open in local cinemas next month

The Spruce Forest/ Pădurea cu Molizi, the latest film by Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu, is set for release in local cinemas starting October 7, Transilvania Film announced.

Inspired by the tragedy of Fântâna Albă of April 1, 1941, the film recounts the fate of a Romanian community in Bessarabia, massacred in a desperate attempt to find refuge from the Soviet occupation.

In 1940, Romania was forced to cede Bessarabia, Bukovina, and the Herța Land to the Soviet Union. Most of the Romanians occupied by the Russians had only one dream: to reunite their families and return home. The film fictionalizes the stories of the survivors, bringing back to the big screen actors Coca Bloos and Mircea Andreescu in what is described as an impressive tête-à-tête. The testimony of a survivor of this genocide (Mircea Andreescu) becomes the background over which archival images and the memories from Siberia of his wife (Coca Bloos) are superimposed, "in a dizzying game of mirrors that questions the notion of historical truth and reveals forgotten traumas with potentially devastating consequences in the present."

The cast also includes Ionuț Caras, Mircea Constantinescu, Gabriel Gheorghe, and Silva Helena Schmidt.

"I was concerned with discussing the way we relate to historical truth and our collective traumas. We have forgotten many of them, but their consequences still resonate today. I think that is the point of the film. Even though initially, after discovering these stories, I was tempted to make an epic film, the more I read, the more I realized that what is absolutely devastating is the human tragedy – of those who survived the massacre and managed to cross the border back to Romania, but especially of those who remained in the villages of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina and were deported. These stories are the ones that I hope will move the hearts, souls, and conscience of people, regardless of age," director Tudor Giurgiu explained.

Tudor Giurgiu and Gabriel Gheorghe authored the script, the cinematography is by Marius Panduru and Toma Velio, and the editing is by Alex Pintică.

During September - October, the film crew will embark on a promotional tour across the country, which will include stops in cinemas and high schools.