Florin Şerban in post-production with his third feature, Love 1: Dog
- The three-character story is set in 1930s Romania
After his Berlinale-awarded If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ada Condeescu
film profile] (2010) and Box [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2015), Florin Şerban is now in post-production with his third feature, Love 1: Dog [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florin Şerban
film profile]. The film is being produced by Fantascope Films, in co-production with Polish production companies Harine Films, Film District and Non Stop Film Service. Şerban, Oana Iancu and Florentina Onea are the Romanian producers.
The story is set in the 1930s, somewhere in the mountains in Romania. It centres on Simion, a ranger who lives like a hermit in the middle of the forest. One day, he stumbles upon a beaten-up woman, Irina, and tries to find out who has hurt her. He also tries to stay away from her but fails. The lead characters are played by Valeriu Andriuţă and Cosmina Stratan, who are teaming up again after their main parts in Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cosmina Stratan
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
film profile]. Florin Hriţcu, Mihaela Măcelaru and Vitalie Bantaş play smaller parts in the film. The DoP is Marcin Koszalka.
The movie is now in post-production, with Şerban, also the screenwriter, in charge of editing. The director describes the project as a “three-character film: him, her and the dog who protects her”. Şerban says that shooting in an isolated location, with a very small team and with animals on set, made the experience hard enough for him to never want to repeat it. “I wouldn’t make this film again. If I hadn’t had these actors, these models of stoicism and dedication, I would have found myself at an impasse.”
Producer Oana Iancu also mentions the hardships encountered during production. “Our main challenge was to resist making artistic compromises despite the limitations caused by the nature of the production,” she says.
The film’s domestic release is expected next year.
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