Young Romanian helmer Ligia Ciornei’s debut feature, a drama titled Clouds of Chernobyl [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Ligia Ciornei
scheda film],  (working title: 1986: The Lost Year) is now ready for release, Cineuropa has learnt. Before embarking on her first feature, the Suceava-born director studied at Bucharest’s National University of Theatre and Film IL Caragiale and directed two shorts: Vintage (2017) and Somewhere in Moldova (2019).

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Based on a true story, Clouds of Chernobyl is set at a time when several women from northern Bukovina, as well as from the cities of Iasi, Vrancea and Tulcea, were forced to have abortions in inhumane conditions, even though the practice was illegal. Much later, news reached Romania that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had exploded, exposing the population in the north-eastern part of the country to high levels of radiation and increasing the number of cases of newborns with deformities. The Romanian Communist Party strongly condemned both women who had abortions and those who kept children born with deformities. These offspring were placed in special centres where they were allowed to die, and their parents did not have the right to see or care for them.

In detail, the film revolves around Irina (played by Isabela Neamțu), a woman forced to face a moral dilemma – choosing between having an abortion and risking imprisonment, or continuing with the pregnancy and giving up the baby even if it is born with deformities, or keeping the newborn and putting at risk the freedom of her mother-in-law.

Talking about the making of her feature debut, Ciornei told Cineuropa: “The entire development of the characters and the script was based on a series of meetings with women who had lived through the Chernobyl experience in communist Romania. After writing the script, Dan [Dimitriu, one of the producers] asked me without any hesitation what I needed and when I wanted to film. I shot 70% of the movie in six days, and the longest sequence without any cuts lasts 20 minutes. After a year, Cristian Mungiu told us that we had to finish the film with a proper ending. At that point, we met with producer Marian Mario, who provided us with everything we needed. With him also came Viorel Chesaru, the executive director of Romania’s most important post-production outfit, Chainsaw Europe, Cristina Badea from Adenium Film and, last but not least, the essential editing tips provided by Dana Bunescu.”

Alongside Neamtu, starring are Gavril Patru, Victoria Cocias, Valer Dellazeka, Anastasia Teodora, Radu Badea and Oana Pascatu. Dan Dimitriu is attached as the project’s DoP, whilst Alice Furdui served as the editor.

Clouds of Chernobyl is a Romanian production staged by Pala Film, and co-produced by Chainsaw Europe, Adenium Film and Doctor’s Studio. The film has been acquired by HBO, with a one-year exclusivity agreement in Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Serbia and North Macedonia. Its release is scheduled for 1 October 2022.