To be able to produce a documentary film in only 5 weeks it’s not an easy objective to be reached, but the participants from Aristoteles Workshop are about to make it. Five exciting stories have already reached the editing stage and they are ready to be “born” in Belis, Cluj County, where the 14th edition of the most important documentary film workshop from Eastern Europe is taking place.
The subjects that have inspired the filmmakers in this year’s edition are very various/different. The people, the places and their stories fascinated the participants artistic imagination. Some of them have chosen to express important events from their picked characters’ lives whom they met in the first days of the workshop. Others preferred to relate a personal journey, using the documentary technique in order to bring up in the eye of the viewer personal emotions, intimate stories and their own hopes and dreams.
One of the few teams that remained in the original formula from the beginning, made out of british director David Power, romanian DoP Bence Prokop and german editor Julia Elger got their attention into the story of two brothers, sent in an adventure full of mysteries after their mother’s car crash, during which they will discover deep truths and will get the chance to understand one another deeper than ever.
At the boundary between freedom and isolation, the character that was chosen to be followed by the american director Bronte Stahl, tries to overcome a personal dilemma. What is responsibility, exactly? Having aside his team mates, italian DoP Lorenzo Fabbro and romanian editor Claudia Alexandru, the director followed the main character of the story in his main environment, surrounded by fascinating local landscapes.
The magic of Belis surroundings was also captured by Voicu Muresanu, in his independent film, having aside Rares Tabacu, student at UBB and AW volunteer. Being selected as an editor in this edition, the filmmaker chose to tell his own story, inviting the viewers in one capturing and metaphoric journey between reality and fantasy, trying to express the way the two influence each other. This is not the only film that Voicu works on. The young filmmaker joined efforts with lituanian Ieva Sakalyte, working together to tell the story of two filmmakers and their fascinating journey in an old van through Cluj County.
British director Sam Bassett and ucrainian DoP Olya Chernykh went on an exploring state of dream world, building a collection of conversations, self-portraits and fictional stories which reflects the paradoxical state of confusion, yet understanding, that dreams create. The film shows the decline and rebirth of mental sanity by exploring how dreams can help us cope with the traumas of reality.
August 30, on the last day of the workshop, the results will be watched by all the teams. Also then, the filmmakers will get the last advice from danish director Lotte Mik-Meyer, documentary film professor and television studies, and from multi-awarded director and producer Laurent Becue-Renard – the tutors that have been aside the participants in building the stories, giving them guidance especially in the editing part.
Aristoteles Workshop (AW) was born in 2006, founded by the romanian producers Dan Nutu andCristina Hoffman, with the support of the french-german television Arte, in order to support a new generation of filmmakers, with previous experience in film or video production. Starting 2018, Aristoteles Workshop is organised in partnership with Babes-Bolyai University from Cluj, University of Theatre and Film, Master of Documentary Film.
Part of the most important and most awarded films produced by Aristoteles Workshop can be enjoyed on cinepub.ro, an online platform where the romanian movies can be watched legally all over the world.
The 14th edition of the workshop will take place between 1st and 31 of August, in Belis, Cluj County and it’s financed by the National Council of Cinematography, The Filmmakers Union from Romania and DacinSara, with the support of NOUMAX.
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