MOON HOTEL KABUL
Competition
A one-night-stand in Kabul: cynical, detached journalist Ivan Semciuc spends the night with mysterious translator Ioana Preda. Back home in Bucharest, he learns that Ioana has apparently taken her own life. However, a video message on a USB stick that she slipped to him unawares seems to suggest another possibility: namely that Ioana was an intelligence agent working to uncover a conspiracy. Whereas previously truth and fiction were simply categories for Semciuc to mix adeptly in his reports, now he becomes driven by the pure search for truth: what sort of plot is behind the supposed suicide?
With MOON HOTEL KABUL, Anca Damian pulls off an enigmatic thriller steeped in paranoia, in which the search for truth and knowledge is invariably fragile. In at times surreally tinged reminiscences of the deceased woman, the boundaries are pointedly blurred between dream and reality, creating an atmosphere of impenetrability and ambiguity. Skilful performances by lead actors Florin Piersic Jr. and Ofelia Popii reinforce the emotional core of the story.
ROU, FRA 2018 / 90 min
Language: Romanian
Director: Anca Damian
- Screenplay: Anca Damian, Lia Bugnar
- Cast: Ofelia Popii, Florin Piersic Jr., Adrian Titieni, Alexandru Nagy, Rodica Negrea, Richard Bovnoczki, Cristina Florea, Dorina Chiriac, Ilona Brezoianu
- Producer: Anca Damian
- Production Company: Aparte Film
- Co-Production Company: Cinéma Defacto
A one-night-stand in Kabul: cynical, detached journalist Ivan Semciuc spends the night with mysterious translator Ioana Preda. Back home in Bucharest, he learns that Ioana has apparently taken her own life. However, a video message on a USB stick that she slipped to him unawares seems to suggest another possibility: namely that Ioana was an intelligence agent working to uncover a conspiracy. Whereas previously truth and fiction were simply categories for Semciuc to mix adeptly in his reports, now he becomes driven by the pure search for truth: what sort of plot is behind the supposed suicide?
With MOON HOTEL KABUL, Anca Damian pulls off an enigmatic thriller steeped in paranoia, in which the search for truth and knowledge is invariably fragile. In at times surreally tinged reminiscences of the deceased woman, the boundaries are pointedly blurred between dream and reality, creating an atmosphere of impenetrability and ambiguity. Skilful performances by lead actors Florin Piersic Jr. and Ofelia Popii reinforce the emotional core of the story.
- Screenplay: Anca Damian, Lia Bugnar
- Cast: Ofelia Popii, Florin Piersic Jr., Adrian Titieni, Alexandru Nagy, Rodica Negrea, Richard Bovnoczki, Cristina Florea, Dorina Chiriac, Ilona Brezoianu
- Producer: Anca Damian
- Production Company: Aparte Film
- Co-Production Company: Cinéma Defacto