PROGRAMME

Cinema, Mon Amour

Alexandru Belc - Romania, Czech Republic – 2015 - 74 mts

Victor Purice definitely deserves a medal as a “Hero of Socialist Labour”. Witnessing

the desperation, the vigour, the persistence with which he keeps fighting for his

cinema brings tears to the eyes. The “Dacia” Panorama Film Theatre, somewhere in

the Romanian province, a concrete beauty with several hundred seats, a good-sized

foyer and solid 35 mm projection equipment is on the brink of failure. It shares the

fate of many Romanian cinemas; there are less than 30 left. The others were

privatised, sold off, turned into amusement arcades or discotheques, even the film

studio sold many of them. What nonsense – just as we are celebrating the new

golden age of Romanian cinema in our part of the world!

But Victor Purice and the small staff he has left will not be driven out of their dream

cinema that easily. They live and cook among film reels, turn the foyer into a table

tennis hall and watch a Hollywood blockbuster alone, if need be. All this is narrated

affectionately and full of admiration for this modern Don Quixote who is fighting

mismanagement, digital progress and a broken heating system. The price he pays is

high. It’s to be feared that this story will not have a happy ending. Mission:

Impossible. - Cornelia Klauß

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_08oErqqGOo