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OSCARS 2019 Romania

"I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians" is the Romanian Oscar candidate

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- A committee of nine film critics favoured Radu Jude’s Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe-winning feature

"I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians" is the Romanian Oscar candidate
"I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians" by Radu Jude

The Romanian National Film Center has announced that a selection committee comprising nine film critics favoured Radu Jude’s “I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians” [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 as the Romanian candidate for next year’s Oscars. A drama about the denial of the Holocaust in Romania, the feature will be competing alongside approximately 90 other pictures for a nomination in the Best Foreign-language Film category. The award will be handed out on 24 February 2019.

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The screenplay, written by Radu Jude, centres on Mariana (Ioana Iacob), a theatre director who wants to stage a public re-enactment of the Odessa Massacre during World War II, when the Romanian army executed thousands of innocent Jews. Although carefully documented, Mariana’s re-enactment is met with incredulous, negationistic reactions from the non-professional cast and city officials. The film was first screened in the main competition of this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, winning the top award, the Crystal Globe. 

“...Barbarians” was produced by Hi Film Productions (Romania), and co-produced by Endorfilm (Czech Republic), Les Films d’Ici (France), Klas Film (Bulgaria) and Komplizen Film (Germany). It is being handled internationally by Beta Cinema, and Romanian distributor microFILM will release it domestically on 28 September.

The film is Jude's second feature to represent Romania at the Oscars, after Aferim! [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile
]
 was a candidate in 2016. The country was previously represented by Adrian Sitaru’s The Fixer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adrian Sitaru
interview: Tudor Aaron Istodor
film profile
]
 (2018), Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Cristi Puiu
film profile
]
 (2017), Tudor Cristian Jurgiu’s The Japanese Dog [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 (2015), Călin Peter Netzer’s Child’s Pose [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Calin Peter Netzer
film profile
]
 (2014) and Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cosmina Stratan
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
film profile
]
 (2013). 

No Romanian film has ever been nominated for an Oscar, with Beyond the Hills being the only title to have been shortlisted in the race for a nomination. In 2008, the snubbing of Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Oleg Mutu
film profile
]
 sparked the ire of many American film critics, which allegedly prompted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to reorganise the nomination process for the Best Foreign-language Film category.

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