10 · 04 · 09

Director Hanno Hofer presents Tales from the Golden Age

Lorena Villa Parkman

At the premiere, Manuela Vulpe, Romanian ambassador in Mexico, said she was extremely grateful to the festival for presenting a special selection of Romanian films. She said she was leaving Morelia with one wish - that the public enjoy the films produced in her country, as well as Romanian culture.

The film, which was presented in Un Certain Regard in Cannes this year, is based on five popular legends that were told during the dictatorship. Hofer explained that they had left out a couple of other interesting tales because some were very complicated to film, both technically and financially. The five that were chosen accurately combine comic, bizarre, and surprising myths that depict everyday life under the communist regime.

The other filmmakers who participated in Tales from the Golden Age were Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru, Razvan Marculescu and, of course, Cristian Mungiu.

The first short is based on a legend about how rural mayors hung fruit on trees to make sure their villages would be noticed by the government. They obeyed even the most absurd orders from Party activists.

The second one dealt with how Communist Party secret regulations prohibited President Ceausescu from removing his hat in front of representatives of the capitalistic world in official photos.

In the third one, a professional driver opens his sealed truck for the first time in his career and discovers an obvious connection between eggs and his love for a woman.

In the fourth short film, an officer receives a live pig as a gift before Christmas and decides to kill it silently using gas in order to avoid drawing the attention of his hungry neighbors.

The last short shows the young Bughi and Crina imitating Bonnie and Clyde. They would go to people’s apartments to “rob” them, filling up bottles with air, and later “testing” it.