Section: Feature Film Competition

LIBERTATE

Tudor Giurgiu

RO/HU , 2023, 109 Min

"Don't play hero!" With these words, police officer Viorel is said goodbye by his wife in the morning on his way to work – it’s the year 1989, the socialist dictatorship is being overthrown in Romania, and from time to time the roles of perpetrator and victim are being reversed. Based on true events, LIBERTATE traces back the events in Sibiu in December before, during and after the fall of Ceauşescu.

#feature #action #political

Trailer

Watch the trailer

When Viorel reaches the police station, there are demonstrations on the streets and in front of the building. Suddenly shots are fired. Nobody knows who shot. Police and military suspect members of the Securitate, the Romanian secret police, to be responsible. The anger built up during the years of dictatorship is released in all directions – a moment in which resistance and demonstrations end in a bloodbath, arrests, chaos and arbitrariness. Director Tudor Giurgi vividly and densely tells us what happens in revolutionary movements when chaos and violence take over and people stop talking to each other. There are no heroes in LIBERTATE. There are only people who are trying to find their way in a state of emergency in their society. There are no heroes in LIBERTATE. There are only people who are trying to find their way in a state of emergency in their society. The boundaries between perpetrators and victims are blurring. An important film, not only for Romania and its history, but also for all societies that have gone through or are currently going through violent revolutions.

Text: Judith Albrecht

Drehbuch
Cecilia Stefanescu, Tudor Giurgiu

Kamera
Alexandru Sterian

Ton
Tamas Szekely, Dorka Mezo, Viktor Lente

Schnitt
Reka Lemhenyi

Ausstattung
Vali Ighigheanu

Produzent
Oana Giurgiu, Tudor Giurgiu

Produktion
Libra Films

Co-Produktion
Jozsef Berger - Mythberg Films/HU

Tudor Giurgiu - Tudor Giurgiu is a Romanian filmmaker. His directorial debut feature LoveSick was selected in Panorama section of 2006 Berlinale and awarded inseveral int’l festivals. His short Superman, Spiderman or Batman (2011) wonBest European Short at the 2012 edition of European Film Academy Awards.Tudor’s second feature, Of Snails and Men, was awarded in Warsaw IFF andValladolid IFF. Why Me?, an unsettling legal thriller based on a real case ofcorruption in present-day Romania, premiered in 2015 Berlinale Panorama.LIBERTATE is Tudor’s fifth feature film.

Back to the section: Feature Film Competition