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Tudor Giurgiu presents Of Snails and Men for the first time in Mexico

Shortly before noon, Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu arrived at Cinépolis Center to present Of Snails and Men. The feature is a satire that addresses issues like unemployment, systems of production, social inequality and the solidarity of a social class with a desire to progress.

Of Snails and Men is uplifting and funny, and at the same time, starkly reveals the resistance of a group of workers: In a small town in Romania, an automobile factory goes bankrupt and is sold to a French company that cans snails. To avoid imminent unemployment, the men in the town manage to save the plant from going under and keep their jobs by selling their sperm.

After the screening, Tudor Giurgiu responded to questions from the audience. Of Snails and Men is fiction based on true facts, however “reality is always much more dramatic,” he said. “After the fall of communism, people became self-proclaimed business leaders. The head of this system has now been in his political post for 30 years. My idea was to dismantle this whole process which was very painful for me.”

The director acknowledged the excellent work of his main actor. “Andi Vasluianu, who plays the leader of the workers, is one of the best actors of his generation,” he said, adding, “My favorite scene in the film is the meeting between the factory director and the worker.”

Giurgiu informed the audience about the current status of Romanian cinema. “It’s a total disaster,” he said. “We won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival. What might have happened in a normal government is that after winning the award, they would have encouraged national cinema and filmmaking. But, since we have politicians who are not interested in cinema, starting in 2007, the budget for this area was cut in half.”

At the end of the event, one of the viewers congratulated Giurgiu for making uplifting films and told him that he was leaving the theater with a smile on his face.