Romanian Film Impresses Critics in Karlovy Vary

Romanian director Florin Serban’s second film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2015. Festival Head Karel Och writes:

»Nineteen-year-old Rafael is a promising Roma boxer. His days unfold according to a regular routine – work, training, sharing a modest home with his father, but also watching an attractive 34-year-old day after day as she walks home from her job at the theater. The young man’s tenacious attention from afar doesn’t bother the pensive Cristina, perhaps because her marriage to a fellow actor seems to have lost its passion. Unpretentious, focused, and narrated with increasing intensity, the drama explores the lives of two people whose seemingly monotonous lives are quietly invaded by exciting emotional possibilities. Rafael and Cristina: two diametrically opposed worlds, two stories, but their encounter creates a third reality, however subjective it may be. The notion of what might be is all the more provocative when contrasted with reality. “Box is a movie about a simple game, no rules, a game in which nobody is safe,” says the respected creator of this long-awaited and highly anticipated second picture.«

Jury members were: Eva Peydró, Spain, president (“El Hype”), Swapan Kumar Ghosh, India (“365Days”), Srdan Vucinic, Serbia (“Novi Filmograf 2”), Pamela Cohn, USA/Germany (“La Furia Humana”), Radovan Holub, Czech Republic (“E 15”).

Festival: www.kviff.com