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PRODUCTION Romania / France

Liviu Săndulescu in pre-production with his first feature

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- Cărturan, a story about traditions and beliefs, is due to start shooting in Romania in July

Liviu Săndulescu in pre-production with his first feature
Director Liviu Săndulescu

One of several first features currently at various stages of development at MandragoraLiviu Săndulescu’s feature debut, Cărturan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Liviu Săndulescu
film profile
]
, will start production on 1 July in the small town of Nehoiu in Buzău County, Romania. Shooting will last 24 days, with post-production expected to wrap in February 2018. The project is being produced by Mandragora, represented by Anca Puiu, and co-produced by France’s Ciné-Sud Promotion and Doppelganger. 

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The screenplay, written by Săndulescu with help from Bogdan Adrian Toma, centres on Cărturan, a 60-year-old man living in a small village. When he finds out that his death is imminent because of an incurable disease, he realises that there are two things he must do as soon as possible: secure a future for his orphan grandson and respect the Orthodox Christian traditions from his area, which require a ceremony where things or food are given away to the poor to save the soul of the deceased. Both endeavours will prove challenging – especially the latter, as the protagonist will soon find himself butting heads with the village priest on the matter.

The film’s team tells Cineuropa that the budget amounts to approximately €700,000. In 2014, the project received production support of circa €98,000 from the Romanian National Film CenterBarbu Bălăşoiu (Sieranevada [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Cristi Puiu
film profile
]
) is the DoP.

Săndulescu tells Cineuropa that he wants to focus on the principles that our beliefs are based on and how the dogmatic aspect of religion can enter into conflict with the traditions inherited from our ancestors. “When this conflict is connected to an important religious event in someone’s life, things can become very complicated,” the writer-director says. He also remarks that the human aspect of his story is more important than the religious one, even if his film will explore both the privileges and the responsibilities in the life of a village priest.

The domestic release of Cărturan is planned for autumn 2018.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

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