Andrei Ujica gave Cannes, TIFF and NYFF cinephiles The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (read our review), and now Radu Gabrea, the Romanian director who has recently made Red Gloves and Gruber’s Journey, will start working to a docu-drama about the last days in Ceauşescu’s life.
Most probably the shooting will take place on January – February 2011, while the release is set for 2012.
The Last Days of Ceauşescu recently received the biggest grant in the documentary section of this year’s National Center for Cinema contest: 696.087 lei (more than 161.000 euro), while the entire budget is likley to be around 465.000 euro. Tudor Şerban and Orion Film are the producers, while the director of photography will be Alexandru Macarie.
The Last Days of Ceauşescu is based on a story by Grigore Cartianu, editor-in-chief at Adevărul Daily Newspaper. Gabrea, mentioned that he wouldn’t have to make any casting for the two dictators, because he already selected the actors who will play the main characters: Victoria Cociaş will be Elena, while Constantin Cojocaru will play Nicolae. Cociaş and Cojocaru are familiar with the story, since they have also played Ceauşescu’s couple on the Odeon Theater stage in a play directed by Milo Rau and Simone Eisenring.
Photo Credit: FilmReporter
