Synopsis
A lost childhood.
Shot and produced during Aristoteles Workshop in 2013 and winner of the Best Film Award, ”The Bed is Broken”, by Raluca Răcean Gorgos, follows the story of two boys that roam around an abandoned mine building, looking for metal to sell to the scrap dealer in order to survive.
Director: Raluca Răcean Gorgos
Cast: Răzvan Văduva, Vasile Câșmaru
Produced by: Aristoteles Workshop Association
Producer: Dan Nuțu
Cinematography by: Ana Maria Vîjdea
Film editing by: Dan Ștefan Pârlog
Sound: Tudor Petre
Year: 2013
Category: short documentary
Genre: drama
Duration: 24 minutes
Subtitles: English
Film shot and produced during Aristoteles Workshop
13,464 – Cinepub viewers
Plot Summary:
Răzvan and Vasile, two boys from a small city, Suceava, roam around an abandoned building, trying to find metal pieces and to sell them to the scrap dealers.
Read more…
Abandoned, desolate buildings have a particular appeal to children and to cinematographers. Perhaps because you can start everything from scratch or because every abandoned place has its own stories.
The camera accompanies them, exploring the spaces in the empty building: factory floors, stairwells, offices – the floors of which are covered with a sea of thick old files. There doesn’t seem to be much left worth taking, as the building has been stripped to the bone already. Broken windows, missing doors, a mattress left behind by someone passing through.
The short film is an observation exercise. The narrative follows patiently the fine line between games and violence. Are they playing with one another, or is it bullying? Eventually, they find someone else to play with: a puppy, just as displaced and playful as the two friends. In an environment where there isn’t much room for childhood, the little dog’s carefree enthusiasm serves as a reminder of what it means to be a kid.
Reviews:
“I personally find The Bed is Broken a special piece, brave in its austere rigorous visual style and elliptical storytelling, which “strips to the bone” the language and manages, through this very “simplicity” to achieve a strong emotional effect.” (Adina Pintilie, Film Director, BIEFF Festival Curator)
“The Bed is Broken works with subtlety, silence and an eerie visual sense. It gets you so close to these deprived kids, so much that the files they throw at each other hit you as well.” (Alexandru Solomon, Film Director)
Reviews:
”Here’s the toboggan… here’s the prison for small children… a cat… a bunny… two stars in the sky… and there’s a… What do you call it? A bed.”
Festivals
- International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam IDFA, Holland
- Kerala International Film Festival, India
- Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest, Romania
- Astra International Documentary Film Festival, Romania
- Cromograf International Documentary Film Festival, Republic of Moldova
- Victoria Film Festival, Romania
- DocuArt Documentary Film Festival, Romania
- Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic
- One World Romania Film Festival
- NexT International Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania
- Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, Romania
- FFeST Cluj, Romania
- Discuția secretă International Art Festival, Arad, Romania
- Culese din Balkani International Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania
Awards
- Best Film Award at Aristoteles Workshop, Romania
- Nominated Silver Eye Award, Czech Republic
Media articles:
- Interview with Ana Maria Vîjdea – www.aarc.ro
