Cinepolitica Returns in Full Throttle. Films about “Drug Company Genocide” and Propaganda, in Competition.

A few of the most interesting films on recent political issues will be screened during the third edition of Cinepolitica International Film Festival, which will take place between April 8th and 13th in three cinemas in Bucharest: Studio, Elvira Popescu and Union. The two major sections, the Competition and the Panorama, will address current topics – from freedom of speech in Russia and Iran to the protests which have been taking place in several places around the world, the monopoly of the big pharmaceutical companies, the future of North Korea – but will also take a look back at life-changing political decisions.
 

One of the first three titles confirmed to be in the run for the Cinepolitica 2014 Trophy is a ravaging documentary about the “drug company genocide”. Between 1997 and 2003, the decision of a few of the biggest Western pharmaceutical companies to withdraw anti-AIDS drugs – in order to maximize their profits – caused 10 million deaths in Africa and Asia. Fire in the Blood, directed by Dylan Mohan Gray and narrated by William Hurt, brings to the screen global figures such as Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and several African and Indian activists.

“Whenever anyone asks me what the film is all about, I always say it’s about the Crime of the Century. I felt totally compelled to make this film because the historian in me could not accept that there was not a single film or even book in circulation which told this endlessly fascinating and important story”, the director states. Extremely well-received by critics, Fire in the Blood has been screened at Sundance in 2013, and awarded in Washington DC, Vancouver, Mumbai and Hamburg. (trailer) 
 

Another controversial story comes from Occupation: the 27^th Picture, directed by the Croatian director Pavo Marinković. The filmmaker talks about a scandal from former Yugoslavia which changed the lives of those involved. In 1978, director Lordan Zafranović was presenting his film Occupation in 26 Pictures in competition at the Cannes Film Festival – a brutal and strongly stylized film about extremist and partizan groups after the Second World War. Well-received in the foreign press, at home the film is “butchered” by a group of young critics who perceived it as Communist propaganda. Deemed a traitor and rejected by his fellow directors, Zafranović fled the country and settled in Prague. That is where he met Pavo Marinković, trying to unravel the ins and outs of the scandal. The documentary premiered in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2013. (trailer) 
 

Le sac de farine, a semi-autobiographic film directed by Kadija Leclere, follows the sad story of an 8-year old girl raised in a Catholic convent in Belgium, who one day is visited by her biological father whom she had never met before. Convinced that it’s for her own good, he takes her to her home village in Morocco, where she will grow in poverty and deprivation. Famous actress Hafsia Herzi stars in the lead role, along with Hiam Abbas and Mehdi Dehbi. “I had the ‘opportunity’ to live part of this story, as I was kidnapped and locked up for two years, four months and ten days”, explains the director. Le sac de farine has been screened in over ten festivals, including Rome, Namur, Dubai, Göteborg and Vancouver. (trailer)

Organized by the Association for Culture and Image, Cinepolitica International Film Festival is endorsed by the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” (UNATC) and the National University of Arts (UNArte). The event is organized with the support of the National Cinema Centre (CNC).