Cinema for me is…
Maria in 23 Frames
1. Describe yourself in ten words.
Determined, playful, thoughtful, curious, reluctant to answer questions about myself.
2. Your best quality? Your worst habit?
Best: empathy.
Worst: overthinking & overworking myself through matters that don’t necessarily require it – yes, I am going to overthink this questionnaire.
3. Your dream job?
Making documentaries.
4. What do you like most about your country?
The people who live here.
5. Your favorite dish in your country?
Zacuscă: a vegetable spread commonly preserved in jars. The spicier the better.
6. Which word or phrase in your native language do you like the most and what does it mean?
“Auăleu” (pronounced awo-lew) – untranslatable, it expresses a spontaneous reaction to a bad situation.
7. What European capital have you visited lately?
Rome.
8. Other than your own, which European country would you love to live in?
Italy & France, maybe.
9. What does Europe mean to you? 3 values.
Cultural nucleus, pluri-perspectivity, building consensus.
10. What film made you fall in love with cinema?
Can’t pinpoint it exactly: it happened progressively and I became aware late in the process, with either Le rayon vert (Eric Romer, 1986, FR) or Trois couleurs: bleu (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1992, FR).
11. Your favorite film theatre? What do you like about it?
I was very attached to a couple of old film theatres in the center of Bucharest before they were closed down. Elvire Popesco Cinema is the closest to them in spirit, through its intimate atmosphere and its programming. It also hosts to some of my favorite local film festivals.
12. Who is your movie hero?
Agnès Varda, as herself, every time she made an appearance on camera.
13. Which movie director would you like to be?
John Cassavetes.
14. Briefly describe your favorite scene.
A young woman with her baby is sitting on a park bench in the cold. An old man sits down next to her and begins eating his lunch. She is terribly hungry, but tries to wait it out and not give it away. Without showing he had noticed her despair, without even turning his head, the man quietly slides some of his food to her. Deeply moved, she accepts it and eats while fighting back tears – Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926, FR).
15. What are the 3 best European films you have seen in the last year?
Lazzaro Felice (Alice Rohrwacher, 2018, IT)
La Liberté (Guillaume Massart, 2017, FR)
Mimi (Claire Simon, 2002, FR)
16. Which film character do you most identify with?
Martine from US go home (Claire Denis, 1994, FR).
17. Your favorite soundtrack or song?
The one from McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971, US), the most beautiful handling of Leonard Cohen’s music in a film that I know of.
18. If you had to live in a movie, which one would you like it to be?
I’d like to go to one of Fellini’s parties.
19. Your life becomes a bio-pic. Who plays the role of you?
Eddie Redmayne.
20. Which talent would you most like to have?
The talent of making appropriate gifts.
21. What is your most treasured possession?
A broken wristwatch that belonged to my grandmother.
22. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Contributing to film projects I find significant or care about. I’ve been lucky enough to have had a few so far.
23. What is your motto?
Auăleu!