Festival 2009Today I was young and pretty

TODAY I WAS YOUNG AND PRETTY AZI ERAM FRUMOASĂ JUNĂ
Documentary Specifications	Biography / Biografie
TODAY I WAS YOUNG AND PRETTY AZI ERAM FRUMOASĂ JUNĂ Azi eram frumoasa juna Alexandra Gulea Romania 2007 52 min. Director/ Photography/ Editor: Gulea Alexandra 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	ALEXANDRA GULEA Fine Arts studies in Bucharest and Paris. Documentary film studies in Munich. Studii de artă în Bucureşti şi Paris. Studii de film documentar în München.
	Filmography / Filmografie
	2004 - God plays sax, the devil violin 2000 - Anonymous
	Awards / Premii
	German Short Film Prize (2004) Golden Key, Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival (2004) Best Student Film, Molodist, Kiev, Ukraine (2004) DAAD Prize, Germany (2004) Prix du Film Long, Les Ecrans Documentaires, France (2004) Mention Henry Langlois, Poitiers, France (2004) Prize FFF Bayern, Munich Documentary Film Festival Minority Prize, Mediawave International Film and Music Festival, Hungary

Synopsis / Sinopsis

In the village Clejani, 5 kilometres from Bucharest, the Roma families do not bother to teach their children a craft, the small ones learn alone to sing and play from each other, so that the large majority of the population has been, for several generations, made up of musicians. The documentary takes us through this world of rhythms and customs, from baptism to funeral, from the impromptu home party to the modern recording studio, from the “audience” made up of the extended family to the stage audience. A journey from the roots of the gypsy music towards the present, when the band learns in front of the computer to play Bartók Béla pieces, a voyage where the characters don’t talk, but sing their everyday joy and sorrow, believing in superstition and destiny.

În satul Clejani, la 50 de kilometri lângă Bucureşti, familiile de romi nu duc grija de a-şi învăţa copiii vreo meserie: cei mici învaţă singuri să cânte, unii de la alţii, astfel că marea majoritatea a populaţiei este alcătuită din muzicieni, de multe generaţii încoace. Documentarul ne poartă prin această lume a ritmurilor şi-a obiceiurilor, de la botez la înmormântare, de la petrecerea din bătătură la studioul de înregistrări modern, de la „publicul” alcătuit din rubedenii, la cel care înconjoară scena. O călătorie dinspre rădăcinile muzicii ţigăneşti înspre zilele noastre, când taraful învaţă să cânte cu computerul în faţă compoziţii de Bartók Béla, o călătorie în care personajele nu vorbesc, ci îşi cântă bucuriile şi necazurile vieţii de zi cu zi, crezând în superstiţii şi în destin.

ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL 2009

Programming / Programare
Friday 30 - Hall B - 16h35 / Vineri 30 - Sala B - 16h35
Saturday 31 - Hall A - 11h00 / Saturday 31 - Sala A - 11h00

Films in Europa Competition / Filme in Competitie - Romania
APOCALYPSE ON WHEELS , Alexandru Solomon, Romania
AM I LUCKY? , Tudor Giurgiu & Oana Giurgiu, Romania
BIRDS' WAY , Klara Trencsenyi, Romania
CHILDREN OF URANIUM , Adina Popescu & Iulian Ghervas, Romania
CONSTANTIN AND ELENA , Andrei Dăscălescu, Romania
FUNNY SISTERS , Bjorn Reinhardt, Romania
MONDAY , Marian Crişan, Romania
MY BEAUTIFUL DACIA , Julio Soto, Stefan Constantinescu, Spain/Romania
TODAY I WAS YOUNG AND PRETTY , Alexandra Gulea, Romania
TWO OR THREE THINGS ABOUT ACTIVISM , Joanne Richardson, Romania
WE WEREN'T PEOPLE WE WERE NUMBERS… AUSCHWITZ , Mia Telman, Romania

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.