Colectiv

13 novembre > SALA 4 ore 21.30

Romania, Luxembourg- 2019 – colore – 103′

CREDITS

Direction: Alexander Nanau

Screenplay: Antoaneta Opriopris

Cinematography: Alexander Nanau

Editing: Alexander Nanau, George Cragg, Dana Bunescu

Sound design: Angelo Dos Santos

Music: Kyan Bayani  

Producers: Hanka Kastelicova, Bianca Oana in co-production with Bernard Michaux, Hanka Kastelicová

Production: Alexander Nanau Production

Italian distribution: I Wonder Pictures

SYNOPSIS

After 27 people die in a terrible fire in a Bucharest nightclub, the Colectiv, the authorities, reassure the public that the injured will receive the treatment they need in facilities described as “better than those in Germany”. Weeks later, the increasing death toll prompts the intrepid Sports Gazette reporters to investigate the incident. Just then, a tip-off exposes Hexi Pharma, a local company whose boss dies in mysterious circumstances. The Minister of Health quietly resigns in the middle of the riots. But this is just the first chapter of a shocking exposé full of twists and turns. Collective is a fast-paced real-time detective story about truth, responsibility and the value of an independent press in a highly polarised age.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

“No interviews, no voice-over. My process of documentary filmmaking is a purely observational one. It is a process of learning from the lives of others, of growing on a personal level by getting as close as possible, up to a point of complete identification with the chosen protagonists. When I start filming a story, at first I don’t want to know too much from – nor about – my characters. I actually never know for sure if from the moment I step into their lives anything worthy of a cinematic story will develop. But what I experience in the process, I am trying to frame in a way that will make the viewers feel as if they were living in close proximity to and discovering the characters. The audience should feel as if it were witnessing its own process of personal growth through the lives of others. That I think is what cinema should do. I was born in Romania. I have lived most of my life in Germany, but at the end of 2015, when Romanian society was devastated by the Colectiv Club fire, I was back living in Bucharest. By being right there at that time, I experienced the full extent of the blow suffered by a democratic European society which could never have imagined that dozens of people could die after going out to a club. The fire at Colectiv was a national trauma.The investigations started to uncover a series of inescapable facts about corruption in the healthcare system which had endangered patients’ lives for years. By then, I was already following the journalists’ work with my camera, as they got caught up in a vortex of disclosures, reaching the highest levels of government… With the change of the Minister of Health, I took the chance to get my lens on the inner workings of the state government too. I was lucky to be trusted by an open-minded new minister who gave me unprecedented access to the system from within. I brought my camera into advisors’ meetings, brainstorming sessions and coaching meetings before going out to the press. I was able to witness crisis management decisions and personal breakdowns. I filmed as the cruel truth came to light about the fragility of democracies and their state institutions without the constant scrutiny of the media and citizenry. The biggest challenge we faced during the editing phase of the film was to balance the real-life events, seen from different perspectives, and offer a better understanding of the powers that shape our private lives in a society. When I started working on this film in early 2016, I never imagined that the year would be a major turning point for democracy all around the world. …The year 2016 tested democracies worldwide, but it also tested each and every one of us.”

MAIN AWARDS

2020 European Film Awards:  Best Documentary

2020 Sofia IFF – International Documentary Competition:  Special Jury Award

2020 Tromsø IFF: Don Quixote Award

2021 National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA:  Best Foreign Language Film