PODUL PESTE TISA
Jan Vrijman Fund: Films by Developing Country Filmmakers

A mother in Ukraine shouts across the river Tisza to her son in Romania. Is he going to school? What will he need her to bring on her next visit? Such is daily life in the Maramuresh region of Eastern Europe straddling the border of Romania and Ukraine. The bridges and roads that once connected these villages were destroyed during World War II as German soldiers, hoping to slow their imminent defeat, retreated from Russian forces. Friends and family members remained separated for over 50 years, lacking resources to build a new bridge. Persistent political turmoil between the nations fuels the difficulty.

Filmmaker Ileana Stanculescu spends time in both the Romanian town of Sighet and Slatina in Ukraine, where townsfolk take it upon themselves to design, raise money for and then build the longest wooden international bridge in Europe. But after the three-year project, the bridge stands empty, covered with pristine snow. The people remain on opposite shores as the politics of the two countries play out.

From the children who speak the many languages of the area to the elders who balk at change in their small towns, this film explores everyday life in a region that has suffered geopolitical turmoil for the past half century.

Agnes Varnum

Ileana Stanculescu was born in Bucharest, Romania. She was a production assistant in Paris for the documentary WORLD JAZZ, and gained her first directing experience there as well at the experimental company Braquage. THE BRIDGE is her first feature-length film.

Print Source:
Ileana Stanculescu
Str. Macedonski 8
Bucharest, 010591
Romania
Tel: +40.21.2115756
Email: ile-stancu@gmx.de

Wednesday 6/15 at 5:00 p.m.

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