Synopsis
Foreword: Monica Lovinescu, literary critic and authority on contemporary Romanian literature, was a prominent figure who dedicated her life and work to the fight against communist totalitarianism. She protected, watched over, and built a wall of words around those who protested.
Directed by: Șerban Georgescu, Liviu Tofan
Script by: Șerban Georgescu, Liviu Tofan
Cast: Gabriela Adameșteanu, Cristina Cioabă, Ion Bogdan Lefter, Cristian Teodorescu, Mircea Martin, Florin Iaru, Dinu Flămând, Matei Cazacu and Dana Tapalagă (narrator)
Producer: Șerban Georgescu (Kolectiv Film), Oana Muntean (co-producer – Victoria Film)
Cinematography: Bogdan Slăvescu, Daniel Oprea
Editing: Șerban Georgescu
Sound: Alex Alexandru
Audio archive: Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile
Year: 2025
Category: Feature film
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 40 minutes
1,440 – Cinepub viewers
PLOT SUMMARY
The film aims to paint a portrait of Monica Lovinescu through a series of interviews with personalities who knew her and enjoyed her support — Gabriela Adameșteanu, Cristina Cioabă, Ion Bogdan Lefter, Cristian Teodorescu, Mircea Martin, Florin Iaru, Dinu Flămând, and Matei Cazacu.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
“No matter how necessary a story may be for society, the great challenge for documentaries in Romania remains the same: access to the public. It is a reality that the days of a documentary in the cinema can be counted on the fingers of one hand and that the number of viewers is limited. In this context, platforms such as CinePub are the only distribution alternative through which the stories we work on, sometimes for years, do not remain just an ‘infusion’ for a handful of people, but have the chance to reach all those who would benefit from encountering them.” – Șerban Georgescu – Regarding the distribution of the documentary in Romania – radioguerilla.ro
TRIVIA:
- Șerban Georgescu is one of Romania’s most rigorous, meticulous, and inventive documentary filmmakers. His 25 years of experience and dedication to the genre leave their mark on every minute of the documentaries produced and released by Kolectiv Film. From expeditions to Everest to everyday dramas in Romanian villages and forgotten or unnamed heroes, his films shed light on often overlooked facets of Romanian life.
- The director has extensive experience in advertising, having collaborated for many years with partners in Norway, Denmark, and Switzerland. His films, such as Everest, Cabbage, Potatoes, and Other Demons, The Esku Family Diary, Killing Girls, A Beautiful Tragedy, and The Case of Engineer Ursu have already been screened at numerous film festivals in Romania and abroad, such as those in Leipzig, Biarritz, and Cannes.
- After 1947, Monica Lovinescu lived and worked in exile in France, becoming one of the most famous voices of the anti-communist Radio Free Europe as the producer of the program Theses and Antitheses in Paris. Her mother ended up in Stalinist prisons, a fact that marked her for the rest of her life.
- The stories are supported by unpublished archival materials: documents, personal photographs, and audio recordings from Radio Free Europe.
- The film is not just a tribute to the past, a simple evocation of personality, but reflects the complex socio-political reality of the years in which Monica Lovinescu worked, seeking connections with the current political present.
- A reconstruction of a puzzle that keeps the viewer attentive and curious until the end.
LINES:
• “If the people don’t speak up, it’s the end of the country!” – Monica Lovinescu
• “We must choose between reintegration into Europe and barbarism.” – Monica Lovinescu
• “Intellectuals are dangerous. If they’re not dangerous, they’re not intellectuals.” – Monica Lovinescu
• “That period was an essential, decisive period; first of all, for my affirmation and that of my generation, I being among, let’s say, the last members of the sixties.” – Mircea Martin
• “Against the backdrop of political liberations, there was a rediscovery of Europe, of European tradition and, above all, of Romanian tradition. The connection with the Romanian interwar period was reestablished.” – Mircea Martin
• “1968-1971 represents the richest period for reading. It translates into devils: American literature, Western literature.” – Florin Iaru
• “Those who have a long tongue will dig for salt for eight years. That’s how it was. And suddenly, fear begins to appear. And fear is the first thing that shows that something is not right in a society.” – Florin Iaru
• “(Monica Lovinescu) impressed us with that slightly guttural and very decisive voice with which she said things that you would only have heard whispered.” – Cristian Teodorescu
• “If the censors heard that Monica had spoken to a young man, then that young man was automatically blacklisted.” – Florin Iaru
• “Reading her chronicles and diaries, I realize how important it was for a book you published, for your name to be mentioned on Radio Free Europe.” – Cristina Cioară
• “I sent Monica packages of books under a different name. She gave me an address in the name of Lucy Rosetti. Or Lucia Rosetti. I found the name when I read her memoirs.” – Gabriela Adameșteanu
• “If Radio Free Europe talked about you, several things could happen. For example, your neighbors would look at you with fearful admiration.” – Cristian Teodorescu
• “Living in Romania at that time meant constantly taking risks.” – Gabriela Adameșteanu
• “When you listened to Radio Free Europe, you felt like a normal person.” – Cristian Teodorescu
ARTICLES:
- Four Kolectiv Film documentaries will be available this fall on the CINEPUB platform – iqads.ro
- Four Kolectiv Film documentaries will be available this fall on the CINEPUB platform – radioguerilla.ro
- Four Kolectiv Film documentaries will be available this fall on the CINEPUB platform – revistabiz.ro
- Documentary film, beyond the script, image, and “other demons” – radioromaniacultural.ro
