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Turn Off the Lights

Viewpoints

World Premiere

Romania | 77 MINUTES | Romanian |

TURN OFF THE LIGHTS

Drama, Female Director(s), Crime
After years behind bars, three young Roma men are released from prison. Bidding an emotional farewell to their fellow inmates, they exit to find their rejoicing families celebrating their homecoming with showers of tears, money, and dancing. Though the men accept the adoration with numbed excitement, they are unaccustomed to the expectations of existence on the outside and, consequently, begin to rediscover lives of aggression and arrogance. Among them is Alex, a captivating figure who charismatically addresses his past with a disturbingly blasé attitude toward violence, women, and guilt. Convicted of murdering his girlfriend—his misogynistic persona seemingly unaffected by years of incarceration—Alex drives Ivana Mladenovic's compelling documentary.

Offering a rare peek into contemporary Roma culture, the three very different ex-cons try to reconcile the outside world with the gray-shaded areas of morality with which they all struggle. Showing the cocoon of their former one-room existence painted in stark contrast to the realities of their outside community, Turn Off the Lights is a portrait of reintegration in a society where indulgence, violence, and excess are a matter of survival.

 

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Romanian+Cultural+Institute+New+York


CAST & CREDITS

Directed by Ivana Mladenovic and Ivana Mladenovic

Ivana Mladenovic was born in Kladovo, Serbia. She moved to Bucharest to study film directing at UNATC I.L. Caragiale and graduated with a master's in 2011.
Composer
Ion Dumitrescu, Andrei Dinescu, Horatiu Serbanescu
Screenwriter
Ivana Mladenovic, Bianca Oana
Producer
Daniel Mitulescu
Director of Photography
Luchian Ciobanu, Claudiu Ciprian Popa
Director
Ivana Mladenovic
Primary Cast
Alexandru Mititelu, Chilibar Papan, Cristian Dragomir, Gyani Versace
Editor
Ana Iliesiu
Sound Design
Vlad Voinescu
Executive Producer
Bianca Oana

CONTACTS

Producer
Daniel Mitulescu
Strada Film
Dr. Staicovici 41 sector 5 Bucharest, 050556
Phone: +40733947910
bianca@stradafilm.ro
http://www.stradafilm.ro
Print Return
Bianca Oana
Strada Film
Dr. Staicovici 41 sector 5 Bucharest, 050556
Phone: +40 733947910
bianca@stradafilm.ro
http://www.stradafilm.ro