\n<\/p>\n
\n\tDracula<\/em>, the new film from\u00a0Romanian provocateur\u00a0Radu Jadu\u00a0(Kontinental \u201925<\/em>,\u00a0Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World<\/em>), world premiered in the competition program of the\u00a078th edition\u00a0of the\u00a0Locarno Film Festival\u00a0in Switzerland. Among the co-producer credits, you find the name of Romanian producer Ada Solomon (Toni Erdmann<\/em>, Aferim!<\/em>), known for her work through her company microFILM and long-time collaboration with Jude.<\/p>\n \n\tBut Solomon has had a much busier Locarno than most. She has the same co-producer credit on fellow Locarno competition title God Will Not Help<\/em>, directed by Hana Ju\u0161i\u0107, about a Chilean woman who comes into a firmly structured and isolated mountain community of Croatian shepherds in the early 20th century, claiming to be the widow of their \u00e9migr\u00e9 brother. <\/p>\n \n\tPlus, Solomon is a producer on Sorella di Clausura<\/em> from director Ivana Mladenovi\u0107, her third competition movie at the Swiss festival this year. \u201cStela fell in love with a Balkan musician after seeing him on TV. Determined to meet him, she accepts help from Vera, a glam starlet rumored to be his mistress,\u201d reads its synopsis. \u201cTheir worlds collide when Vera promises to rescue Stela from her poverty-stricken life by taking her to Bucharest, where she runs a sex products business.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSolomon talked to THR<\/em> about her busy Locarno, her focus on storytellers and their motivation, fake idols, and how cinema can cause the dialogue that the world may now need more than ever.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI have to say that, not because I have three films in the international competition, but the selection of Locarno this year is absolutely spectacular,\u201d Solomon says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s really an honor to have the films presented there.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHer three movies in the Locarno competition are distinct. \u201cThey do have some things in common, in a way, but they are very, very different,\u201d Solomon tells THR<\/em>. \u201cThere is the punkness of Ivana. Obviously, Radu has this irreverent way of presenting a cinematic story. And Hana\u2019s God Will Not Help Us<\/em> is yet a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhat are common themes? \u201cGod Will Not Help<\/em><\/em> is about a bonding of two very different women, which is similar to what\u2019s going on in Sorella, even though they are completely different proposals,\u201d explains the producer. \u201cSorella is very noisy, it\u2019s crowded, while God Will Not Help<\/em> is a very peaceful, silent, contemplative, slow-paced film. But they are touching on some similar things.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tPeople have also said that Sorella<\/em> has some of the Dracula<\/em> qualities. \u201cWhen they speak about these two films, they mention this boldness of the approach, even though Sorella<\/em> is much more narrative,\u201d Solomon says. \u201cIn the end, it\u2019s an anti-romantic melodrama with a lot of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLocarno was the first major festival where Solomon had a film in competition, as a minority producer on Federico Bondi\u2019s Black Sea<\/em> in 2008. The movie won the Ecumenical Jury Prize and a Silver Leopard best actress honor for Ilaria Occhini.<\/p>\n \n\tNow, Solomon is getting closer to the mark of 100 films.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\u2018God Will Not Help\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Kinorama<\/p>\n \n\tHer focus is clear. \u201cIt\u2019s always about the storyteller,\u201d Solomon tells THR<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019m working with auteurs who can tell a visual story. I\u2019m looking for their motivation. That\u2019s always my first question: Why this story? Why this project? Because we embark on a journey that can take five, six, seven years. Okay, with Radu, it\u2019s much less, but that\u2019s a different thing. He\u2019s quite particular in many, many respects, but in general, it\u2019s a long journey. So, motivation is key. And then the other essential thing is that we share the same values. Because if we don\u2019t share the same values, and I don\u2019t have something to learn out of this experience, I\u2019m not interested, because it\u2019s a process and an exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor Solomon, cinema is also about the exchange with the audience. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s very important for cinema to have something to say, to raise a question through emotions. That\u2019s art for me in general, and that\u2019s somehow also my civic contribution,\u201d she explains. \u201cI think I can contribute, in a way, to a better understanding of the world we are living in. And I think we need this kind of dialogue more than ever, because we are living in a troubled world. The challenges are so complex because the fake, or not even the fake, but the one-sided perspectives are dominating our informational universe. And there is so little space for dialogue that I think that only emotions can now make us go deeper. And it\u2019s not about money for me. It\u2019s about content, the quality of content. And of course, it needs to make some money, but this is not the primary focus.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe challenges of moving from Communist to capitalist systems play a key role in quite a few of the movies that Solomon has worked on. \u201cThis transition and this transformation and the question of where we are going now is a theme,\u201d she says. I mean, it\u2019s 35 years-plus after the revolution already, from the fall of the [Iron Curtain], and we do have a little bit of distance. The \u201990s and even the beginning of the 2000s were pretty chaotic, and we didn\u2019t have time to analyze and to contemplate what was going on. It was all turmoil, events, changes, discoveries, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThings have changed. \u201cNow we are a little bit settled, but we are again at a crucial point of crisis all around the world, and we look back and say, \u2018Fuck, we had such a good life, and we were complaining all the time. But those were the good times!\u2019 We are now going towards hell with very fast steps. And maybe there is something to learn from what is behind us. So what the hell are we doing?\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\u2018Sorella di Clausura\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of microFilm\/Dunav 84<\/p>\n \n\tWhat microFILM is doing next is focusing on the Sarajevo Film Festival, which kicked off on Friday. It also features Sorella<\/em> and God<\/em> in its feature competition, plus Ali\u0219veri\u0219<\/em> from director Vasile Todinca as part of its short film competition. <\/p>\n \n\tThat short is one key focus for Solomon. \u201cIt\u2019s very dear and very important to me, because it\u2019s done mainly by the new generation in the company, my partner Diana Caravia, who\u2019s in her early 30s, and she\u2019s growing up. We are a collective of producers, and we are perfectly equal in the company. We are bringing projects in together. It\u2019s Diana and Carla Fotea together with me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEach of the partners has a slightly different focus. \u201cDiana is much more interested in things that are a bit more experimental, a bit more genre,\u201d Solomon explains. \u201cWhile Carla is very deep into storytelling and the way a story is delivered, but also very involved in documentaries. So, it\u2019s a mix, and that makes it a pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSolomon and microFILM has more in the works. \u201cNow I\u2019m very focused on the new film from Alexandru Solomon, Small Expectations<\/em>,\u201d she tells THR<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s a project that will go backstage of the Romanian elections of last year. And I think it\u2019s a very important project or exploration of what was going on. And it not only affects Romania, but it\u2019s also about what is going on with the rise of extremism, and why voters turn to extremism and nationalism. Why are they turning towards virtual leaders that are built on TikTok?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSorella<\/em> touches on that theme as well. \u201cIt has become even more timely since we started that project six years ago, because it speaks a lot about these fake idols building their public image on different kinds of screens,\u201d says Ada Solomon.<\/p>\n \n\tAlexandru Solomon, her husband, also has another project, called The Archive of the Archives<\/em>, a film about the National Archives of Romania and the people working there. \u201cIt\u2019s a film about memory preservation,\u201d explains Ada Solomon. \u201cHow do we pick what we keep and what we throw out? It talks about this small community of experts in the National Archives in Romania, but it also speaks more broadly about sustainability, about memory, about heritage, about how we are writing history.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\u2018Dracula\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of SagaFilm, Nabis Filmgroup, PTD, Samsa, MicroFilm<\/p>\n \n\tIn September, shooting is set to start on another microFILM project, the new feature from Alina \u0218erban, I Met Her<\/em>. \u201cShe is a fantastic Roma director, contemporary artist, and activist who will deliver a very personal story translated into fiction,\u201d Solomon says. \u201cIt\u2019s the story of a survivor, not a victim, seen from the Roma perspective, which will be a premiere, seeing the life of a young Roma girl on screen.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tIt is a film that fits into Solomon\u2019s focus of putting a spotlight on stories that have not been told and on challenging audiences. \u201cIt\u2019s a story without victimizing, without pointing fingers,\u201d she says, \u201cbut built to empower people, outcasts or marginalized people, to take their destiny into their hands and overcome the challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBefore Solomon goes back to her busy schedule, she mentions one more project that fits her focus, Eugen Jebeleanu\u2019s The Price of Gold<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s about what lies behind the people who are in competitive ballroom dancing,\u201d the producer tells THR<\/em>. \u201cIt will be a film in 10 chapters, each of the chapter being one of the typical dance styles, like one is tango and so on and so forth. And it\u2019s a story of transition, and of him discovering, discovering his identity as an LGBT person. It\u2019s a personal story, but it\u2019s heavily fictionalized.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tThe film also has another angle. \u201cIt also depicts how in this discipline, the trophy for once is not the woman, it\u2019s the man,\u201d Solomon explains. \u201cIt\u2019s about how the families of the girls are competing to get the best partner, because there are few men and a lot of young ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe project fits Solomon\u2019s auteur focus but also allows not only the film\u2019s audience, but also herself to explore something new. \u201cFor me, what\u2019s most interesting is trying to do something that I haven\u2019t done before and from a different perspective,\u201d Solomon concludes. \u201cAnd this is such a project.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dracula, the new film from\u00a0Romanian provocateur\u00a0Radu Jadu\u00a0(Kontinental \u201925,\u00a0Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World), world premiered in the competition program of the\u00a078th edition\u00a0of the\u00a0Locarno Film Festival\u00a0in Switzerland. Among the co-producer credits, you find the name of Romanian producer Ada Solomon (Toni Erdmann, Aferim!), known for her work through her company microFILM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[9535,2883,1930,2206,5055,9534,9536],"class_list":{"0":"post-16100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-ada","9":"tag-competition","10":"tag-films","11":"tag-locarno","12":"tag-producer","13":"tag-romania","14":"tag-solomon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}