Cinema for me is…
Romania – Claudia Sirbulescu from Europa Cinemas on Vimeo.
Claudia in 23 frames
1. Describe yourself in ten words.
Unsettler. Curiouser and curiouser. Passionate. I don’t need 10 words.
2. Your best quality? Your worst habit?
Best: Constant adaptation, revision and change. Worst: Forgetting I have the power to change things.
3. Your dream job?
Explorer. Screenwriter. Dancer. Photographer. Director. Actress. All at once.
4. What do you like most about your country?
Nature and the power of community.
5. Your favourite dish in your country?
Not sure is a dish, but is popular here. The Romanian roasted eggplant “salad”. I have a thing for eggplants.
6. Which word or phrase in your native language do you like the most and what does it mean?
Here is one of the many many words I love. “Călăuză” – it describes a person which acts as a guide. But it sounds very poetic in Romanian.
7. What European capital have you visited lately?
Rome. On a night with full moon eclipse.
8. Other than your own, which European country would you love to live in?
A Mediterranean country.
9. What does Europe mean to you? 3 values.
One that encompasses many: respecting the dignity of the individual.
10. What film made you fall in love with cinema?
Luc Besson’s “The fifth element”. I felt it had subtle genius. I still do.
11. Your favorite film theatre? What do you like about it?
Cinema Victoria from Cluj-Napoca. It’s linked to many personal discoveries. I also love Cinema Elvire Popesco, located in the heart of Bucharest. It’s a small one-screen cinema, hosted in a wonderful building. What I love is the artistic direction and the space.
12. Who is your movie hero?
Ha! I’ll give you a hint. He’s from Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999, US). But I can’t tell you more because the first rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club.
13. Which movie director would you like to be?
An energetic merge between Christopher Nolan and my future self.
14. Briefly describe your favourite scene.
Hard choice, but here’s one that moves me. It’s from Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014, US). The explorers are orbiting Saturn. Cooper finds Rom (Romilly) sitting on the bed, overwhelmed by the nothingness that surrounds them. Cooper tries to encourage him and, eventually, hands him his headsets. Music starts to play. What Rom starts listening to is a specific earth-sound: crickets singing along storm. This earth-sound remains in the background, while we see the spacecraft passing Saturn. It must be a hair-raising experience to call to mind something as familiar as the sound of an earthly storm while gazing at Saturn.
15. What are the 3 best European films you have seen in the last year?
Julieta (Predo Almodovar, 2016), ES
Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016), DE
All these sleepless nights (Michal Marczak, 2017), PL.
16. Which film character do you most identify with?
Alejandro (young Jodorowsky) from The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2017). We have the same soul urges. Or Aglaja at 5 from Aglaja (Krisztina Deák 2012, HU).
17. Your favourite soundtrack or song?
The soundtrack of Interstellar. It makes me feel like the next personal breakthrough is just around the corner. Maybe it is.
18. If you had to live in a movie, which one would you like it to be?
In The curious case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008, US). I want to know what it’s like to live backwards.
19. Your life becomes a bio-pic. Who plays the role of you?
Someone who hasn’t been born yet, with an energy that resembles the one Jessica Chastain brings on screen.
20. Which talent would you most like to have?
I would like to function on a soul-centered level all the time.
21. What is your most treasured possession?
My memory.
22. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Total courage.
23. What is your motto?
“Let it all go. See what stays.”