Festival 2009The Flower Bridge

THE FLOWER BRIDGE PODUL DE FLORI
Documentary Specifications	Biography / Biografie
trailer not available THE FLOWER BRIDGE PODUL DE FLORI Podul de flori Thomas Ciulei Romania 2008 87 min. Director: Thomas Ciulei Photography: Thomas Ciulei Editor: Alexandra Gulea Production Company: Thomas Ciulei/Europolis Film World Distribution & Sales: Thomas Ciulei/Europolis Film Address: Thomas Ciulei/Europolis Film, Tudor Arghezi, 14, 020945, Bucharest, Romania Tel./ Fax: 0040744644147 E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it	THOMAS CIULEI Documentary film studies and photography studies. Producer, Director and Director of Photography. Studii de film documentar şi fotografie. Producător, regizor şi director de imagine.
	Filmography / Filmografie
	1990 - Plays of light at the Maxim 1992 - Like a bird on a fence 1995 - Gratian 1997 - Face Mania 2001 - Asta e
	Awards / Premii
	Prix des Bibliothèques, Cinema du Reel, Paris (2008) Mention, Le prix des Jeunes, Cinema du Reel, Paris (2008) Main Prize "Remembrance and Future", GoEast Film Fest, Wiesbaden (2008) Main Prize, Mediawave Festival, Györ, Hungary (2008) Best Film on Labor Migration, Cronograf, Moldova (2008) Best Romanian Feature Film, Transilvania International Film Festival, Cluj, Romania (2008) The Black Sea Trophy for Best Documentary Film, IPIFF, Mamaia, Romania (2008) Silver Turon, IFF Etnofilm Cadca, Slovakia (2008) Best Film, Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic (2008) Mention, Prix Ulysse, Cinema Mediterraneen Montpellier, France (2008) ARTE Documentary Film Prize, Duisburger Filmwoche, Duisburg, Germany (2008) Best Documentary film, Cinema dei Popoli, Florence (2002)

Synopsis / Sinopsis

It’s been some years since three very young children have to live without their mom. She left to seek work somewhere in Western Europe, because in their poor village in Romania’s region Moldova work is scarce, and there is little chance to earn enough to mend the house and send the kids to a decent school. Initially, the mother thought that her exile would last only for two years, but the third went by and she still didn’t return. As a result, Costică, the father, is in charge of everything concerning the kids: he supervises their studies, gives them hair-cuts, reads stories for them, and puts them to work in the farm and around the household. It takes a lot of skill to manage the absent-mother situation. The film gently and humorously tells the story of this particular family, a story which is to be found with most families in this poor region.

De cîţiva ani, trei copii trebuie să trăiască fără mama lor, plecată la muncă undeva în Occident, de vreme ce, în satul lor sărăcăcios din Moldova, nu se întrebedea nicio şansă de a cîştiga destul pentru ca să repare casa şi să poată trimite copiii la o şcoală bună. La început fusese vorba de o absenţă de doi ani, dar mama nu s-a întors nici după al treilea. Prin urmare, tatăl, Costică, trebuie să se ocupe de copii cît pentru ambii părinţi: îi supraveghează la lecţii, îi tunde, le citeşte poveşti, îi pune la muncă în modesta lor fermă şi îi învaţă să aibă grijă de gospodărie. E nevoie de o întreagă strategie pentru a suplini absenţa mamei. Transpusă într-un registru plin de duioşie şi umor, povestea lui Costică şi a copiilor lui se regăseşte la multe familii din această regiune.

ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL 2009

Programming / Programare
Saturday 31 - Hall A - 13h10 / Sâmbătă 31 - Sala A - 13h10
Sunday 01 - Hall B - 12h30 / Sunday 01 - Sala B - 12h30

Films in Europa Competition / Filme in Competitie - Europa
AGAINST BLOOD JUSTICE , Nathalie Rossetti & Turi Finocchiaro, France
ALYOSHA , Meelis Muhu, Estonia
AT HOME ANYWHERE , Judith Vrerinks, The Netherlands
BACK PASSING , Jaro Vojtek, Slovakia
BERLIN, KREUZBERG 36 , Angeliki Aristomenopoulou, Greece
THE FLOWER BRIDGE , Thomas Ciulei, Romania
IVETKA AND THE MOUNTAIN , Janecek Vit, Czech Republic
LOOK AT THE LIFE THROUGH MY EYES , Marija Dzidzeva, Croatia
LOST IN TRANSITION , Thom Vander Beken, Belgium
LOST WORLD , Gyula Nemes, Hungary
MY CLASS - FROM RUSSIA WITH RELATIVITY , Ekaterina Eremenko, Germany
PEACE FOR ALL , Elizabeta Koneska, Macedonia
PEOPLE DREAMS ACTIONS , Andreas Stiglmayr, Germany
ROUGE NOWA HUTA , Blandine Huk & Frederic Cousseau, France
SHADOW OF THE HOLY BOOK , Arto Halonen, Finland
SINGING , Rossella Schillaci, Italy
SOUL , Marina Anedda, Italy
YOU LIVE AND BURN , Iiris Harma, Finland

FESTIVAL PROGRAM

film screenings

AFF09 Film Program (.pdf)

Mo.26 | Tu.27 | We.28 | Th.29

Fr.30 | Sa.31 | Su.01

events

Mo.26 - Su.01

FILM ARCHIVE

ASTRA FILM manages an extensive documentary film collection with public screening facilities. The ASTRA FILM archive started in 1990, and it has collected since thousands of documentaries produced in over 70 countries.

Due to our focus on the Eastern European and Romanian production, the ASTRA FILM archive holds a unique collection of documentaries documenting the issues of post-communism and transition in the region.