Otto Barbarul

12 novembre > SALA 5 ore 21

Romania, Belgium – 2020 – colore – 110’

CREDITS

Direction: Ruxandra Ghitescu

Screenplay: Ruxandra Ghitescu

Cinematography: Ana Draghici

Editing: Dana Bunescu

Set design: Malina Ionescu

Original music: Octavian Albu, Cardinal

Cast: Marc Titieni, Ioana Bugarin, Ioana Flora, Iulian Postelnicu, Adrian Titieni, Mihaela Sîrbu, Constantin Draganescu, Ana Radu

Producers: Iuliana Tarnovetchi, Oana Prata  in coproduction with Xavier Rombaut

Production: Alien Film in coproduction with Polar Bear

Sales: Reason8 Films

SYNOPSIS

Otto, a 17 year-old punk becomes involved in the social services investigation of his girlfriend’s Laura death. He is caught in a vicious circle created by his parents, his mute grandpa and Laura’s mother. Laura is still part of his life through the video recordings that the boy edits constantly, trying to make sense of the events. Throughout this process, Otto must take his part of responsibility for what happened.

THE DIRECTOR: RUXANDRA GHITESCU

Ruxandra Ghitescu is a Romanian visual artist and filmmaker. She is a graduate student of the Media Art School, in Karlsruhe, Germany. Ruxandra is working in present as a director on films, commercials and as a scriptwriter. She was selected as participant for Berlinale Talents 2015, Sarajevo Talents 2014 and Transylvania Talents 2014. Her debut feature Otto the Barbarian, a Romanian-Belgian coproduction, was part of L’Atelier de Cinefondation 2017, Berlinale Script Station 2016, CineLink Sarajevo 2016 – winner of the Macedonian Film Institute Prize, CineLink Work in Progress 2019 and premiered in 2020 at Sarajevo IFF.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

“I have often found myself in contexts that brought teenagers within my focus, and I feel Otto is a mandatory film that addresses, with empathy I might add, lack of communication but also fear of mental illnesses. We are surrounded by so many fictitious happy narratives, redacted to look true, to the degree that any less-than-perfect reality tends to be marginalised and hidden away.”

FILMOGRAPHY

2011 Urban Groove (short)

2013 Probleme de familie (Family Issues, short)

2016 Ana is Coming Back (short)

2020 About Us (short)

2020 Otto Barbarul (Otto the Barbarian)

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

2020 Sarajevo FF – International Competition

2020 CinEast Central and Eastern European FF – Official Competition

2020 Cottbus Film Festival – U18 Youth Film Competition

2021 Transilvania IFF – Romanian Days:  Best Feature Film