I thought I'd post this, since the non-profit arts group I work for (ToRo Arts Group) is holding the second edition of the Toronto-Romanian Film Festival ( Feb.13-15 ), and one of our Doc.Day programs (co-presented with Hot Docs) focuses on music-documentaries.
Taking place at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Ave. - University of Toronto), starting at 6pm, our Doc.Day Shorts double-bill will screen "Electro" along with "Viva Constantza !".
Electro is a visually stylish, independent production, that sheds some light on Romania's electronic scene (read: not techno scene per-se, but rather the electro/IDM scene). Viva Constantza ! reaches to the other side of musical fringe of Romania, following a (now famous) Gypsy Elvis impersonator, Elvis Rromano.
I've included below more info on the shorts for those interested.
“A snapshot of a subculture in development as Bucharest DJs, promoters and clubbers talk about the Romanian capital’s growing electronica scene.”
A fresh look at electronica from the perspective of a country shaking off pop-culture isolation, Matei-Alexandru Mocanu’s stylish documentary is a snapshot of a subculture in development. Bucharest DJs, promoters and clubbers with tastes ranging from thumping techno to experimental sound sculpture address the different subsets of the scene, the influence of fashion and drugs, relations with the international electronic underground, and the question of whether they are building a movement or just making music.
Awards / Festivals
- Official Selection (Transylvania Int’l Film Festival) 2007
- Official Selection (ASTRA Film Sibiu – Int`l Festival of Documentary Film and Visual Anthropology) 2007
- Official Selection (Ethnocineca08 - Austria) 2008
- Official Selection ( MusiXine / Oulu Music Video Festival - Finland) 2008
- Official Selection (Music on Film - Film on Music - Czech Republic) 2008
- Official Selection (DaKino Int`l Film Festival) 2007
Director: Ambrus Emese
Screenwriter: Ambrus Emese
Running time: 43 min.
Tudor Lakatos is a 40-year-old Gipsy teacher in the ghetto of Somcuta, in the northern region of Romania, who wants to become famous as an Elvis Presley imitator. He translates most of the King’s songs into the Gipsy language. One day, under the name of Elvis Rromano (Gipsy Elvis), he sets off to the port city of Constanta to try his luck with popularizing this kind of music, rock and rom (Gipsy rock).
Awards / Festivals
- Special Prize for Best Documentary on Intercultural Dialogue (DocumFest Film Festival, Timisoara) 2008
- Official Selection (ASTRA Film Sibiu – Int`l Festival of Documentary Film and Visual Anthropology) 2007
- Official Selection (Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival) 2008
- Official Selection (CineFest Int’l Festival of Young Filmmakers) 2008
- Official Selection (Transylvania Int’l Film Festival) 2008
- Official Selection (DaKINO Int’l Film Festival) 2007
