Synopsis
Foreword: “Three Bedtime Stories” are three real-life stories belonging to Marica, Tanța, and Anica, three women from Bucharest’s District 6 who are united by a common element.
Directed by: Andreea Chiper
Script by: Andreea Chiper
Cast: Marica Popescu, Constanța Borunteia, Anica Bumbu
Producer: Rhea Association
Interview assistant: Anca Munteanu
Editing: Andreea Chiper
Sound: Iulian Nunu
Project Manager: Anamaria Feraru
Year: 2025
Category: Feature film
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 21 minutes
3,877 – Cinepub viewers
PLOT SUMMARY
Three Bedtime Stories is a feminine tryptic following the lives of three women reminiscing their past.
TRIVIA:
- The film was born out of the Past/ Present project, a creative initiative dedicated to seniors in Bucharest’s District 6, which challenged them to transform their life memories into a cinematic experience. For several weeks, 25 participants worked alongside directors, trainers, and artists, exploring theater, clowning, and improvisation, taking to the stage and in front of the camera. The result is a collective story about memory, courage, and the joy of staying active at any age.
- Andreea Chiper is a documentary filmmaker and occasional film critic.
- She likes Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi’s experimental films, and everything related to found footage.
- In her free time, she tries to perfect her tarot card reading skills.
- She was part of the documentary and short film jury for the Gopo Awards.
- She also collaborates with the One World Romania festival.
LINES:
• “About two months ago, before my husband fell ill, I had a dream that I was there, in the countryside, in a beautiful field—green, grass… and I was wearing a red sweater.” – Marica Popescu
• “A herd of buffalo… and I’m wearing a red blouse.” – Marica Popescu
• “He was never sick, he was as strong as a mountain.” – Marica Popescu
• “He was staring at me, and he was exactly the same buffalo I saw at the fence.” – Marica Popescu
• “That’s how life is. What can we do… we move on.” – Marica Popescu
• “My husband, after finding out he had bone cancer and was going to die, said: Tanța, do you know how I want to die? I want to go to the sea, go into the waves and be taken by the waves…” – Tanța Borunteia
• “Don’t do that, Marian, you’ll give those lifeguards too much work.” – Tanța Borunteia
• “In that vomit, his soul left him.” – Tanța Borunteia
• “He died like a baby chick in my arms.” – Tanța Borunteia
• “It’s not good to scare the spirit when it leaves the body. You mustn’t.” – Tanța Borunteia
• “Love is very short. Love is at the beginning. Then it becomes habit.” – Anica Bumbu
• “He’s already dead, what can you do. (…) When he left, he took everything with him. He left us with the clothes in the washing machine.” – Anica Bumbu
• “When my husband died, he kept coming back to me everywhere. Because he didn’t have a funeral.”
• “Until I called the priest (…) and did everything that needed to be done, I couldn’t get rid of him from the house.” – Anica Bumbu
• “He was my husband, the father of my children… there is something there. – Anica Bumbu
• “When you have a beautiful life, you want to remember it. – Anica Bumbu
ARTICLES:
- Past/present – seniors in District 6, at the end of a beautiful story – asistentasociala6.ro
- Andreea Chiper on “I’m dancing at my parents’ wedding too” – revistacultura.ro
- Articles: Andreea Chiper (Matca Literară) – matcaliterara.ro
- Articles: Andreea Chiper – filmsinframe.ro
- Articles: Andreea Chiper – agenda.liternet.ro
- Rhea Platform – platformarhea.ro
