In December 1989, the future of Romania was up in the air. It was also on the air. During a televised speech, Nicolae Ceauşescu stopped speaking and looked off-camera, confused. The broadcast cut briefly to an empty red screen, until eventually his speech resumed. The (televised) revolution had begun—even if exactly what had happened was unclear. The result is a fascinating portrait of how confusing and chaotic history is in the making—in front of a camera and on the television screen. It is also an important reminder of the context for the revolution in Romanian cinema some thirty years later.

(Harun Farock & Andrei Ujică, Romania, Romanian W/ Eng Sub, 106 min, 1992, Digital)

Cosponsored by the Dept. of Film/Video/Animation/New Genres