On the picture Dorel Vișan, Șerban Marinescu, H.E. Ireny Comaroschi and Mircea Diaconu. Photography by C. A. Dailey.
By Catherine A. Dailey.
The Embassy of Romania, in cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Institute in Brussels, presented a screening of the recent Romanian comedy film, “ To Paris with the Identity Card,” on Thursday, 17 September to mark the opening of the European Film Festival.
The four day festival, being held in the Netherlands, is organized by the Information Office of the European Commission in the Netherlands, the Filmhuis in The Hague, the Romanian Embassy and other diplomatic, cultural and business partners. Ten films will be shown at various venues in The Hague during the festival, which runs through Sunday, September 20. In addition, many more films will presented in seven other Dutch cities during the coming days.
H.E. Ireny Comaroschi, Ambassador of Romania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, warmly welcomed guests to the special event held in the embassy’s grand drawing room. The room had been transformed into a private “film house” for the evening screening shown to a capacity crowd.
Among the ambassador’s invited guests were members of the Romanian community in the Netherlands, Dutch government officials, including Mr. Roelof van Ees, Director of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and film aficionados enjoying the opportunity to participate in the European festival.
After reading a short synopsis of the film, before responding to the ambassador’s invitation, some guests may have been expecting a light comedic story about migration, love or a tourist’s adventures in Paris. Instead, they were introduced to a realistic tragicomedy. The film depicted contemporary life in Bucharest, after the fall of communism nearly twenty-five years ago, as experienced by a community of former academics, politicians, aging citizens, young couples and troubled families.
Serban Marinescu, the director of the film, documented the vacuous reality of his fictionalized characters’ bleak isolated lives sharply—lives seemingly devoid of values, hope and meaning. His acute eye for detail in chronicling the mundane sights, sounds and dialogue in a sordid Kafkaesque parody of “civilized” urban society in the modern world, where every character’s life seems to have been impacted by the “seven deadly sins” in the age of globalization. Only the aging academics, idealists of Bucharest’s “University Square” have managed to retain their dignity and values in the midst of a seemingly decaying culture.
Following the screening, the audience had an opportunity to speak with the film director, Mr. Șerban Marinescu, actors Mr. Mircea Diaconu and Mr. Dorel Vișan, the director general of DACIN-SARA, Mr. Bogdan Ficeac and the film producer Mrs. Carmen Tripădus. Many in the audience, who were gathered for the event, expressed their views on Romanian politics, society’s values and poverty. Others expressed feelings of pride with both the excellent film and the artistic skills of Mircea Diaconu and Dorel Vișan, with bringing cinematic “life” to their characters. Even the Ambassador, shared her opinion, by expressing her gratitude to the film team present for the occasion, for their daring exploration of the uncomfortable realities of Romania’s modern life through the art of film.
“To Paris with an Identity Card” is produced in Romanian with English subtitles. Ambassador Comaroschi, as is her custom, ensured that, in addition to her staff, two professional translators were available to facilitate discussions between her guests throughout the entire evening. Following the screening, lights refreshments, including Romanian wines, were served.
For more information about the upcoming films, screening times and venues for the European Film Festival, please visit the “Events” page on the website of the Europe Commission’s website or contact Anna Matus at (070) 313 5300.
