By Romanian Film Festival Seattle Staff

The 9th Edition of the Romanian Film Festival Seattle, “Homelands,” takes place November 11-27 with in-person events at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum and additional films streaming through NWFF’s online platform. Tickets and passes are on sale now. 

Homelands reflects on this year’s current events, while celebrating the power of film to map out new meanings into a world where people have been displaced by wars, economic crises, political instability, and natural disasters. The festival will continue to showcase the best of the newest film productions from Romania and Europe, promoting outstanding directors, both established and up-and-coming. It will also continue its partnerships with Northwest Film Forum, Romanian Film Fest Arizona, and sister-organizations ARCS Arizona and ARCS Detroit. The Romanian Film Festival Arizona will have in-person screenings November 19-20 at Majestic Tempe 7 in Tempe, AZ. 

Festival staff have chosen selected titles from the Scarecrow Video catalog to pair with films screening during the festival: 

At Scarecrow, rent: TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE (2009) set in the late communist period in Romania and based on urban myths, with segments Directed by Hanno Höfer, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru & Răzvan Mărculescu. Another great choice is THE OAK (1992), Directed by Lucian Pintilie: a description of Romania before Ceausescu’s downfall, told through the story of Nela, the daughter of a former colonel of the Romanian political police.

At the Festival, see Alexandru Belc’s Cannes Award-Winning METRONOM (2022). This stunning drama is set in Bucharest 1972, and follows 17-year-old Ana, who dreams of love and freedom. One night, while partying with her friends, they decide to send a letter to Metronom, the musical program which Radio Free Europe broadcasts clandestinely in Romania. It is then that the Securitate, Ceaușescu’s secret police, arrives.

At Scarecrow, rent TWO LOTTERY TICKETS (2016), Directed by Paul Negoescu; a comedy about a working man who loses his winning lottery ticket and goes through bizarre events trying to find it and cash it in. 

At the Festival, see THINGS WORTH WEEPING FOR (2021), Directed by Cristina Groșan. In the midst of moving out from her student flat, Maja’s evening takes a surprising turn when she stumbles upon an old relative who is without a doubt, dead. Hours pass and absurd situations arise. Are they allowed to eat next to a dead person? Did the woman just move her hand? And what is the proper way to say goodbye to someone you didn’t actually know?

At Scarecrow, rent WHEN EVENING FALLS OF BUCHAREST OR METABOLISM (2013), or POLICE, ADJECTIVE (2009), Directed by Ruxandra Zenide. Both films are Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu. 

At the Festival, see MAN AND DOG (2022), Directed by Ștefan Constantinescu. In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, Doru returns from Sweden to Romania for a baptism, but in fact he is secretly investigating his wife’s alleged infidelity.

At Scarecrow, rent 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (2007), Directed by Cristian Mungiu and IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE (2010), Directed by Florin Șerban. Both center strong women in their stories. 

At the Festival, see IMMACULATE (2021), Co-Directed by George Chiper & Monica Stan. When young Daria enters rehab, her perceived innocence gains her the protection of the mostly male junkies inside, but she soon finds out that this special treatment comes at a great price.

At Scarecrow, rent UPPERCASE PRINT (2020), Directed by Radu Jude. The story of Mugur Calinescu, a Romanian teenager who wrote graffiti messages of protest against the regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and was subsequently apprehended, interrogated, and ultimately crushed by the secret police.

At the Festival, see THE CERTAINTY OF PROBABILITIES (2021), Directed by Raluca Durbaca. Comprised entirely of archival footage from 1968, this essay film surveys the efforts of the state to ensure social stability in a society that claimed to have quashed all forms of alienated labor.

At Scarecrow, rent I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS (2018), Directed by Radu Jude. 

At the Festival, see THE MARSHAL’S TWO EXECUTIONS (2018), also Directed by Radu Jude. The film confronts two different views of the execution of General Ion Antonescu, Romania’s leader during the Second World War. It plays as part of Jude’s short film package, alongside the more whimsical PLASTIC SEMIOTIC (2021):  a collage of scenes in which children’s toys show the lives of human beings from birth to old age.

At Scarecrow, rent COLLECTIVE (2019), Directed by Alexander Nanau. An environmental spy infiltrates the global syndicate for illegal timber trading. With the aid of a hidden camera he documents the chain of illegal activities, from harvesting of the wood to the marketing of “washed” products in supermarkets. This turns out to be an excellent motor for political change.

At the Festival, see WOOD (2020), Co-directed by Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, Michaela Kirst, & Ebba Sinzinger.