17/05/2017 - The founder of Alien Film, Romania’s 2017 Producer on the Move Iuliana Tarnoveţchi now has as many as five features in development

With a film career spanning almost two decades, in 2012 Iuliana Tarnoveţchi founded her own production company, Alien Film, through which she has produced, among others, Igor Cobileanski’s comedy Eastern Business [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and co-produced projects such as Lina Luzyte’s Together for Ever [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Here is what Tarnoveţchi has to say about producing in Romania and her increasingly busy schedule.

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Cineuropa: What are your thoughts regarding the recent opening up of the Romanian film industry to co-productions, which has been promoted by the new cinema law?
Iuliana Tarnoveţchi: My production company had co-produced films long before this new cinema law existed. It was a well-considered strategy that has always been on the agenda at Alien Film, because I truly believe that co-produced projects grow in their own specific way. Beyond financing details, co-productions bring a certain openness to perspectives that may be different from your own. They also facilitate working with professionals from other regions; they diversify your expectations. This new cinema law is cause for hope because it can really support the Romanian film industry. It would be even better if it had already been applied, because now it’s only being kept in a drawer.

Your most recent feature, Igor Cobileanski’s Eastern Business, is a co-production with Moldova and Lithuania. Is Moldova an attractive co-production partner for Romanian films?
I think so, because things have been changing for the better thanks to the mutual openness of the two countries. Moreover, I’ve met many young, extremely creative film professionals coming from Moldova. They want and they are more than able to make films. I think there is a great desire for the younger generations there to create cinema. I also believe they are able to overcome financial obstacles through talent, creativity and hard work, which makes them genuine partners, yes.

How do you choose a project?
I strongly believe in the power of story, which is why I always leave plenty of time for the development of my projects. Another important aspect is the team that gathers around a specific project - the screenwriter, the director and the creative producer. This creative trio is of paramount importance for me, and if they are able to communicate and they are ready to put their energy into the story, as a producer I can tackle any genre with them.

What can you tell us about your upcoming projects?
Besides Ruxandra Ghiţescu’s Otto the Barbarian, which has already been covered by Cineuropa (read the news), I have four more features in development. The most advanced is Radu Bărbulescu’s Bicycles, a bittersweet drama set in the 1970s, which Radu is now writing together with screenwriter Filip Columbeanu. Simultaneously, we are developing Filip’s screenplay for Simin Dona, which is also set in the 1970s, but in North Korea.

What do you expect to get out of Producers on the Move?
I look forward to meeting the other participants in the programme. I expect some very busy days, during which we will share our past experience and love for cinema, and talk about future projects. I hope that we will be able to build authentic relationships - relationships that we can test in future collaborations and co-productions.