Bucharest International Film Festival - BIFF - B-EST

Thus, the long-awaited feature film debut of director Radu Jude, CEA MAI FERICITÃ FATÃ DIN LUME / THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD, presented at Berlin IFF within the Forum section, was selected in the Official Competition of B-EST IFF. Moreover, the short films BRIC-BRAC, by Gabriel Achim and RENOVARE / RENNOVATION, by Paul Negoescu, both presented in the Shorts program at Berlin IFF, are the first two Romanian films selected for B-EST IFF.

CEA MAI FERICITÃ FATÃ DIN LUME / THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD (a HiFilm Productions and Circe Films co-production) is the story of Delia Frãþilã, age 18, the only child of a poor family from the countryside and also winner of the grand prize of a promotional campaign: she sent three soda bottles labels and won a car. Upon her arrival in Bucharest for her filming of the advertising testimonial for the soda company, the building-up tension between the girl and her parents leads to a terrible fight on the set regarding the car – Delia would like to keep it while the parents would like to sell it in order to evade poverty. Gradually, what started as fortunate event degenerates into a painful situation for Delia, a situation that makes her question the relationships within her own family.

In Berlin, CEA MAI FERICITÃ FATÃ DIN LUME / THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD received the CICAE Award (Confederation Internationale des Cinemas d’Art et d’Essai), awarded each year by a jury made of distributors and film critics.

BRIC-BRAC (a UNATC production) is the story of a cinema director (Gabriel Achim), who is trying to convince his lead actor (Paul Ipate) not to give up his part despite the similarities between the story of the film and a personal event - an argument the actor had with his girlfriend (Ioana Blaj). The film combines the actor’s own story with the script, so that the viewer is confused as to what is fiction and what are the actor’s personal memories. Ultimately, the director seems to win in the confrontation with his actor...although the alternative of a film about the Revolution seems much at ease.

The events taking place in RENOVARE / RENNOVATION (a Filmalee, HiFilm Productions & Hochschule for Fernsehen und Film Munchen co-production) are focused on three members of the same family. Diana (Clara Vodã) is trying to supervise the rennovation of her family’s appartment, while at the same time running her daily errands. Her son, Alex (Andrei Runcanu), barely has any time left for the rennovation and his girlfriend, as the deadline for his thesis is coming to a close. To make matters worse, his grandmother (Simona Bondoc) is longing, more than ever, for a little attention from her own family that only seems to ignore her more and more...

B-EST International Film Festival is supported by the National Center for Cinematography.
Co-producers: TVR, TVR Cultural, TVR International;
Media partners: 24 FUN, Cotidianul, Esquire, HBO Romania, Radio Guerrilla, Discovery, www.cinemagia.ro , www.hboclub.ro , www.liternet.ro .