Shot before the pandemic, Immaculate [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Monica Stan, George Chiper…
ficha de la película], a drama by Romanian directorial duo Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark (who also co-directed the documentary Emigrant Blues: A Road Movie in 2 ½ Chapters with Mihai Mincan), will meet the international audience in the Giornate degli Autori sidebar of the upcoming Venice Film Festival (1-11 September). The project is being staged by Axel Film, with Marcian Lazăr serving as the producer.

The screenplay, written by Stan, is inspired by her own experiences as a teenager: soon after her boyfriend, a drug addict, is sent to prison, 18-year-old Daria (Ana Dumitraşcu) is sent by her parents to a rehab clinic, so that she will quit heroin and become the dutiful daughter she once was. In the clinic, Daria's unwavering loyalty to her boyfriend makes her exceptional in the eyes of the male patients and saves her from their sexual advances, which makes her feel both desired and protected. But the arrival of a mysterious patient will become a serious challenge for Daria, and the young girl will soon have to find her own path.

The film’s budget amounts to circa €520,000, with a little less than half of this amount coming from the Romanian National Film Center. The project also received support from Creative Europe – MEDIA. The film was shot over four weeks in Bucharest in October and November 2019. George Chiper-Lillemark (who shot, among many others, Adina Pintilie’s Touch Me Not [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Adina Pintilie
ficha de la película]) was the DoP. Vasile Pavel (Soldiers: Story from Ferentari [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Dawid Ogrodnik
entrevista: Ivana Mladenovic
ficha de la película]) plays the male protagonist, while Cezar Grumăzescu, Rareş Andrici, Ilona Brezoianu, Bogdan Farcaş and Ionuţ Niculae play supporting roles.

Monica Stan says that the film explores the “tensions that are created in a closed environment, where everything can explode in an instant. [Our film] is a story about seduction, but not only in a sexual way. It’s the seduction of our own image and of how we see ourselves in the eyes of others.” Regarding the fact that too many female protagonists in Romanian cinema come from stories written by men, Stan tells Cineuropa: “It is enriching to see both the female gaze upon male characters and the male gaze upon female characters, and I think it is a good empathy exercise for both genders to write stories from the other’s perspective, as long as it comes from a genuine place of openness. One's full humanity is essential for writing.”

About how he and Stan shared directorial duties, Chiper-Lillemark says: “During the pre-production work, we gradually defined our approach and especially our roles in terms of the way we would be communicating with the actors and the crew. Monica would talk with the actors, and we would discuss things after each scene or take a break during the scene if any of us felt that there was something that needed to be addressed. And we maintained this way of consulting with each other throughout the shoot, regardless of the issue.”

Immaculate is being handled internationally by Syndicado.