“A film that impressed us with its staging, a historical account free of mannerism that surprised us, a film that made us dive into the chaos of the events of 1989, alongside Ceaușescu’s flight. A film where the agitation of the Revolution is captured not only in various locations in Sibiu but also in the reactions and language of the characters.” This was the jury’s motivation for awarding the Critics’ Prize to the Romanian film Libertate (dir. Tudor Giurgiu) at this year’s Arras Film Festival, which concluded on Sunday, November 12, in northern France. The jury was chaired by Perrine Quennesson, one of the most active film journalists in France (who writes, among other things, for Cinema Teaser and has worked on the film programs Tchi Tcha and Le Cercle at CANAL+). Alongside Quennesson, the jury included Thomas Baurez (Première, FRANCE 24), Christophe Caron (La Voix du Nord), Boris Szames (SO FILM, Gone Hollywood), and Caroline Veunac (Télérama).
This is not the only award the Romanian production received over the weekend. The film also won the FIPRESCI Prize (International Federation of Film Critics) at the 33rd edition of the Cottbus Film Festival in Germany: “Experiencing a revolution on screen can be both uncomfortable and captivating at the same time. The director succeeds in giving shape to a historical chaos by creating a film that goes beyond the aesthetics of the Romanian new wave.” The jury included Italian journalist Giuseppe Sedia, German journalist Katrin Hillgruber, and Romanian historian Angelo Mitchievici. Cottbus is one of the most important film festivals dedicated to Eastern European cinema.
In Romania, Libertate has already been seen by over 35,000 viewers, and in the coming period, director Tudor Giurgiu and some of the actors will attend several special screenings across the country, mostly in cities and towns without cinemas.
The cast of Libertate features some of Romania’s most well-known and appreciated actors: Iulian Postelnicu, Mirela Oprișor, Alex Bogdan, Alexandru Papadopol, Alex Calangiu, Andreea Grămoșteanu, Cuzin Toma, Leonid Doni, Andi Vasluianu, Ștefan Iancu, and Ionuț Caras.
This year, the film won the Audience Award for the Most Popular Romanian Film at TIFF, the CICAE Award at Sarajevo, the Ecumenical Jury Award at Cinefest Miskolc, and the awards for Best Costumes and Set Design (by Viorica Petrovici and Vali Ighigheanu, respectively) at the Waterloo Historical Film Festival.
The sponsors of the promotional campaign for the film Libertate are Vodafone Romania, Banca Transilvania, Conceptul Lab by Theo Nissim, Groupama, Iulius Group, and Aqua Carpatica.
Media partners: Rock FM, KISS FM, Magic FM.
LIBERTATE is a co-production between Romania and Hungary, produced by Libra Films and Mythberg Films, and distributed in Romania by Transilvania Film. For international distribution, the film was acquired by the London-based company Reason8.