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Uppercase Print
Forum 2020
© Silviu Ghetie
In 1981, chalk slogans written in uppercase letters started appearing in public spaces in the Romanian city of Botoşani. They demanded freedom, alluded to the democratic developments taking place in Romania’s socialist sister countries or simply called for improvements in the food supply. Mugur Călinescu was behind them, who was still at school at the time and whose case is documented in the files of the Romanian secret police. Theatre director Gianina Cărbunariu created a documentary play based on this material.
Besides showing a production of the play, Radu Jude also uses archive footage from Romanian TV from the era. This dialectical montage creates an image of a dictatorial surveillance state, drawing on the authorised popular entertainment of the Ceaușescu regime in the process in order to unmask it. Cooking shows alternate with interrogations, transcripts of wiretapped phone calls with recommendations to exercise instead of taking sedatives. This not only shows what amazing finds can be unearthed in archives, but also how such materials can be used today to talk about yesterday with thoughtfulness and insight while avoiding the pitfalls of re-enactment.
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by Radu Jude
with Bogdan Zamfir, Şerban Lazarovici, Ioana Iacob, Şerban Pavlu Romania 2020 Romanian 128’ Colour & Black/White

With

  • Bogdan Zamfir (Securitate Officer)
  • Şerban Lazarovici (Mugur Călinescu)
  • Ioana Iacob (The Mother)
  • Şerban Pavlu (The Father)

Crew

Director Radu Jude
Screenplay Radu Jude, Gianina Cărbunariu
Cinematography Marius Panduru
Editing Cătălin Cristuțiu
Sound Design Dana Bunescu
Sound Jean Umansky
Production Design Irina Moscu
Costumes Dorin Negrău
Make-Up Bianca Boeroiu
Casting Liliana Toma
Assistant Director Cristina Iliescu
Production Manager Vlad Gilga
Producer Ada Solomon
Executive Producer Carla Fotea
Co-Production Romanian Public Television Bucharest
Hi Film Productions Bucharest

World Sales

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Produced by

microFilm

Photos

Radu Jude

© Jens Koch

Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1977. After taking a film degree at the city’s Media University, he first worked as an assistant director before making his debut short film in 2006. His feature debut The Happiest Girl in the World, which screened in the 2009 Forum, received worldwide attention. He won the Silver Bear for Best Director with Aferim! at the 2015 Berlinale and his films Uppercase Print and The Exit of the Trains both premiered in the 2020 Forum. In 2021, he won the Golden Bear with Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn while two of his short films screened at Locarno and Venice.

Filmography

2006 Lampa cu caciula (The Tube with a Hat); short film 2007 Dimineața (In the Morning); short film 2009 Cea mai fericită fată din lume (The Happiest Girl in the World) 2011 Film pentru prieteni (A Film for Friends) 2012 Toată lumea din familia noastra (Everybody in Our Family) 2015 Aferim! 2016 Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts) 2017 Țara moartă (The Dead Nation) 2018 Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari (I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians) 2020 Uppercase Print · Ieşirea trenurilor din gară (The Exit of the Trains); co-director: Adrian Cioflâncă 2021 Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn) · Caricaturana; short film · Plastic Semiotic (Semiotic Plastic); short film 2022 Amintiri de pe Frontul de Est (Memories from the Eastern Front); short film, co-Director: Adrian Cioflâncă

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2022