In this insightful interview, we sit down with Miruna Berescu, the accomplished producer of Three Kilometers to the End of the World and the long-time director of the Anonimul International Film Festival. Berescu shares her journey in the film industry, her collaborations with director Emanuel Parvu, and her experiences in both independent and public-funded film production in Romania. She also discusses the reception of her latest film at Cannes, the intricacies of co-productions, and her dedicated work at the Anonimul International Film Festival. Additionally, Berescu provides her perspective on the persistent societal issues in Romania, particularly in rural areas, and hints at her upcoming project rooted in the country’s historical context. This conversation offers a deep dive into the challenges and triumphs of filmmaking in Romania and the passionate commitment driving Berescu’s career.
Amir Ganjavie, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Could you please introduce yourself and tell me about your role?
Miruna Berescu (MB): My name is Miruna Berescu. I’m the producer of Three Kilometers to the End of the World, the latest feature I produced. I’m also the director of the Anonimul International Film Festival for 21 years now. That is happening in the Danube Delta – the same location where Three kilometers to the end of the world was shot.
(UM): What made you interested in being involved with this project, Three Kilometers to the End of the World?
(MB): This is the third feature by Emanuel Parvu as a director. And all of them were produced by me, from the very beginning. We started with, Meda or the Not So Bright Side of Things, the debut that was made independently. It premiered in Sarajevo and won 2 awards, for best actor, Serban Pavlu, and for best director, Emanuel Parvu. To be honest, it all started because of the debut. I mean, as a director of a debut, it is still difficult in Romania to find the right producer and, of course, the right financing. Even though Emanuel had worked on several, shorts until then, it was difficult. So, I came across the idea and the film. We thought we shouldn’t wait anymore and should try to produce it independently. And that’s what we did. And, after Meda, it was a little bit, easier. We could apply for the funds from our national center. So it all became, easier. And hopefully, with the Cannes competition now, it’s going to be easier and easier with the next projects.
(UM): How was the reception of the movie, at the Cannes, if you can say a little bit?
(MB): For us, it was the first time there, so we didn’t quite know what to expect. It was such a prize in itself to get selected. And, as you probably know, after the screening, it can go either way. I mean you get applause, and then, the day after, everybody’s reviews come out. So, we didn’t know what to expect. Of course, we had a lot of trust in the project, but also, we were among incredible projects and incredible names. We were screened the same day as Lanthimos’ film and then Paul Schrader’s film. So, we had the reviews coming out for the two of us. But I can say it was very well received, also for the audience; that is very important. I know everybody talks now about standing ovations and stuff, but we kind of had several minutes of applause. It was very emotional. And then we were very well received in the reviews, and by the European press, especially the French press. And that was really important for our distributor in France that is Memento. And the film is going to be out in France in October. So it was important for them to get the message of the film right. It’s not only about homophobia, but it’s also a really important story about love; conditional or unconditional. It’s also about parents and family. And this is a recurrent theme from Emanuel, these family relationships. And the film is also about that. I don’t say mainly, but it’s really connected to this theme. So it was very well received. We got the Queer Palm Award, and that was also important because it’s a recognition, from the community that says what we did there was right. Because as Emanuel says, we kind of had the outside point of view, and it was important to know that we addressed it right. Now the film is in the festival circuit. It’s going to be in Sarajevo. We’re probably coming back to Sarajevo’s competition with this film (after Meda), and also in San Sebastian where we were with Mikado. And we are also preparing the next film already.
(UM): You mentioned you started with private funding and then moved to public funding for this movie. Can you tell me about the public funding situation in Romania? What are the criteria to get it?
(MB): Well, in Romania, there is the National Fund. Which is actually called, the Cinema National Center, or CNC. And, they organize 2 sessions of script contests per year. And you apply with or without a director attached to the project. It’s very tough because it happens twice a year and, usually like 6, 7, or 8 projects get financed. I’m talking only about fiction features now. It is rather difficult. We have a lot of renowned film directors who of course, have a script, and production-wise, they get high ranking. So, as I told you previously, it’s difficult when you are at the beginning, to get into, let’s call it, league. And there’s a separate debut contest for 1st and second feature. But then with the 3rd one, you have to compete with Puiu, Mungiu, and Porumboiu when they apply. So it’s rather difficult. But still, it’s good that we have these 2 sessions per year. You know roughly when they are, and you’re prepared for that. Of course, what counts the most is the script, but also the points that you gather with your producer and you as a director. So, for the debut, it was difficult because I was at the beginning. So, we decided to stop waiting for the national contest because it takes a while. It has to be announced, then it’s the contest, then you wait for the results, and then with all the content and gathering the rest of the money, of course, it could take 1 year, 2 years. And Emanuel had waited back then, quite long. I mean, he had this script debut, for 2 or 3 years already, so it was rather imperative. So then I decided to step in because I was producing this quite big film festival. More than 4000 people gather each night in this remote location that is the Danube Delta. So I thought, well, I’m going to give it a try and see what’s going on because, otherwise, Emanuel would have to wait, we don’t know until when. So, we made it independently, but also with a lot of friendship. I know that from the outside, it seems rather impossible to make a feature, with actually no budget at all. Like, with some €30, 000 or something. That was the real budget. I mean, the money to pay people and the team. But we were relying a lot on friendships. Emanuel Parvu is also an actor. He was doing some TV work prior, so we gathered some friends around the project, and that’s how we managed. And afterward, with the festival circuit and then with the awards that we got in Sarajevo, it was easier to apply also for me as a producer, because I was getting points, and also for him as, a director. As good as the script is, it is important to have a dossier to get financed by public funding. And afterward, with this public funding already in place, to start getting, private money also and to apply for co-productions.
(UM): How do co-productions work in Romania?
(MB): Well, we are open to being co-producers, I mean, from the Romanian part, to do minor co-productions, with partners from Europe mostly. And for us, to get co-production and to get partners there are a lot of pitching sessions. The Sarajevo is a big festival for our region, and we pitched, to get co-productions, both with Mikado, the second feature of Emanuel, and with this one. It was also pitched in Sarajevo to search for co-productions. But, actually, for the Three Kilometers, the film shown in Cannes, it was, again, getting rather late because we knew that we had to shoot in September. That was last year. So, for this one, we had no co-production in place. So, for us, I think it’s usually working, and lately, it’s working a lot. And to have this three-party coproduction and then to apply for European funds. So in my opinion, it’s getting to work quite well.
(UM): Can you tell me more about your experience working for a film festival?
(MB): This was the main thing that I was doing before starting the production as a work. It was a small film festival 21 years ago. It started where the Danube meets the Black Sea. It’s a small village called Saint George, reachable only by boat. So, it’s a very nice area in the Danube Delta. We started quite small, trying to make an experience for people to watch films together in the open air during the night, on the sand; really relaxed and very cool. It’s, as we say, the opposite of this red-carpet syndrome of film festivals that you dress up and everybody is very official. There, the film teams and the directors, watch films together in this, let’s say, camping area, and then discuss it. So, we wanted something really relaxed and small, but it really grew. So now, as I said, we have 4000 people per night. It’s called the Anonimul International Film Festival because that was the initial idea to be anonymous, you know. And let everybody, the big stars, or directors or creative or film teams be together in this relaxed atmosphere while some of us are on the stage and some in the audience. So we wanted to mix that a little bit. And apparently, it worked well also for the film teams coming from abroad. Because they get really impressed by the atmosphere.
(UM): Apart from your festival work, you mentioned you’re also a writer. Can you talk about that?
(MB): Actually, that was my first experience co-writing with Emanuel because we’ve worked together since the beginning, and my input on the cowriting is very little. So, I have to, say that. But what I mainly do and probably what I’m going to do for the next film, which is the easier part, is when the script is almost done and all the ideas and all the structure are there. My view on Three Kilometers was to try to make sure that the emotional part, the fragile part, and the delicate parts are there also. Because there’s this one is a film with a lot of, aggressivity, and bad stuff and hatred. And I don’t know if we succeeded in doing that, but I wanted to make sure that we add this layer of love, and it’s really, there for people to realize that the film is also about pure and sincere love – for instance, in the film, the love the parents have for their son. Although what they do to him is not the best. So, I would say the layer of love that can be hurtful with all the best intentions one can have. And for the next project, probably it’s going to work the same. Emanuel Parvu is very attentive to the details. And let’s say I have the wider view on the script, but my input is really little.
(UM): In a couple of Romanian films that I have watched, the issues of religion and patriarchal society are always very prevalent. Are these still real issues in Romania, especially in the local villages?
(MB): Well, from the inside, I would say that the gap or the difference in views, in the way we act towards religion and minorities, I would also add how we reacted towards the COVID situation. It started to be more obvious. So I think, in the urban areas with all the young people and young generation and people that have traveled abroad and have a larger look on things, we are on a very good path, let’s say. For instance, in Bucharest, I wouldn’t say that it’s different when we talk and when we relate, for instance, to the gay parade. In Bucharest, it could be the same as in Prague or, maybe not the same as in Paris, but like in Prague or Poland. But as you get to the rural areas that are more isolated, and apart from big cities and from Bucharest, or from big centers, like Cluj, for instance, the religion is, very present. That’s not a bad thing per se. But the religion is combined with, a little bit of archetypal view on things. And they are all kind of related, as you mentioned religion and I mentioned the attitude towards the vaccine, or minorities or ethnical issues. I don’t know if it’s a matter of, I would say, education, but it also has to do with the isolation that I’m talking about or the remote communities. And I truly and honestly think that when people meet people that they think they are sick of, or they don’t deserve to be among them, or the religion doesn’t let them do those things when confronted to that or put face to face to that, I am pretty sure, or maybe I’m just optimistic, that their view can change. But they are isolated. They only have the TV that they watch, which could be quite aggressive in this nationalism which is badly understood. So, I think we are in a circle and it can be broken, but we shouldn’t be aggressive as well. That’s what I’m always saying. And this is not a cliché, I really believe in dialogue and in not trying to always contradict the other one to impose your point of view. I truly and honestly believe in conversation.
(UM): You talked a bit about your next project. I wonder if you want to say anything more about it.
(MB): I would If I was allowed to. Well, we kind of know the story that Emanuel wants to say next because these 3 films were like a trilogy, based on family ties and family relationships that I mentioned before. And we kind of knew that after Three kilometers, we were going to shift a little bit. It’s going to be, that I can say, a difficult thing to watch and to swallow in a way. And it has roots in before the 1989 revolution. At the time of Ceausescu. Even if we were young, we lived terrible things back then, especially in the eighties, let’s say, 1985 to 1989. They were really, really difficult times for all of us.
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