The Hottest Day

The Hottest Day 1974

1

This film consists of almost twenty minutes coverage of a political rally, filmed by more than ten Sahia cameramen, during the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of 23 August 1944, ‘the first day of the socialist era’. The Hottest Day is part of a rich author filmography, which includes around one hundred titles, such as A Life Dedicated to the Happiness of the People (1978); Homage (1983); The Party, The Homeland, The People (1986); Heroic Times in Legendary Lands (1987). When the Sahia documentaries obediently followed their political commission, their length could surpass the usual ten to twenty minutes, even reaching feature length. The Hottest Day was one of the shortest film in this category that we could find in the archives.

1974

Film Festival for the Villages

Film Festival for the Villages 1960

1

Created with a political-educational purpose and, at the end of the ‘70s, incorporated into the Cîntarea României (Song to Romania) Festival, the Film Festival for the Villages was one of the longest running cultural-political events in Socialist Romania. This film, conceived as a marketing device / trailer for an upcoming festival, is an example of Sahia ephemera. Seen today, it gives us a chance to carry out an ad-hoc archaeology of the film festival as an institution. The film served to increase the festival’s visibility around the country, to announce the dates of the event, and to build expectations among audiences for a certain time of year—in this case, 12 December 1959-31 March 1960.

1960

Along the Frumoasa Valley

Along the Frumoasa Valley 1981

1

The industrial site, the dam under construction and the colony of workers’ housing attached to them are among the favourite spaces of the Sahia documentary, especially during the last decade of the communist regime. The work on the country’s numerous industrial sites is a constant theme included in the annual Thematic Plans of the studio, therefore repeatedly fixed on film and repeatedly missed, or at least simplified by the documentaries of the time, always completed under the pressure of the political imperative.

1981

I Am Also Part of the Three Turns

I Am Also Part of the Three Turns 1970

1

A small town in Buzau province is affected by a destructive flood during the time of an aggressive nationalistic program of urbanization in Communist Romania.

1970

Ajde maestro

Ajde maestro 1970

1

Musical documentary essay on Romanians in the metro in Paris in December 2004.

1970

Phoenix: The Story

Phoenix: The Story 2022

10.00

The film celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary Romanian rock band Phoenix. It features interviews with key members like Nicolae Covaci, the band's founder, and Mircea Baniciu, one of its iconic voices. The documentary includes rare archival footage and offers a comprehensive look at the band's history, its impact on Romanian culture, and its journey through various political and cultural landscapes.

2022

Surge of Transference

Surge of Transference 2024

1

Surge of Transference is a video essay that investigates the expansion of the internet in a small Romanian town, where communities have formed and shifted around the newly imported Western technology. Within this micro-universe, the video traces the rapid transformation of the Internet, from the early days of peer-to-peer software to the upload of online late capitalism.

2024

15

15 1970

1

1970

The Butterfly Collector

The Butterfly Collector 1970

1

"The whole world is a stage and all people are actors. They rise and fall in turn, each one: A man plays several roles in life, And the acts are the seven ages..." (William Shakespeare, How You Like It) The story of a man - Mihai Sarca - for whom the theater means everything and for whom a whole life defined himself by his passion for the stage and for the people who serve it, thus becoming the treasurer of an archive collection and, at the same time, a living encyclopedia of the Romanian theatrical phenomenon of the last century.

1970

Amar

Amar 1970

1

The documentary presents a series of pickpockets who have elevated pickpocketing to an art form. We delve into their personal and professional lives and discover the mentality and spirit behind such thefts. We hear the stories of people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, who have had addictions, who grew up on the streets or people who have come to know first hand the systems, laws and conditions of detention in different prisons across Europe. Some are incurably ill, others have become integrated into the social systems of other countries, have learned to read and write, have a social life, have a home and spend their time constructively.

1970

The Memory of the Moment

The Memory of the Moment 2023

1

The world of Viorica Cătuna, from Poiana Cătunarilor, in Transylvania, somewhere at 1200 meters altitude. A former teacher, she has always been passionate about knowledge, books, poetry and music. We learn her story, the history of her family and the history of her community, all in correlation with historical events that have taken place over the years. A portrait of this woman and the times, from when she learns the stories of her family to the future plans she has in her 80s. A charismatic and storied character, an encyclopedia of a vanishing community.

2023

The Trial

The Trial 2005

1

A film constructed on a text that seems to be a theatrical performance rather than the transcript of a trial. The camera traces facades of communist housing blocks, depressingly unchanged over the years, as the transcript from the trial of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, is read without pause or emotion. The intensity of the film is created by the tension between the dizzying and unceasing movement of the camera and the continuous and expressionless reading of the trial script, recording a very dark episode of modern history. — Anthology Film Archives

2005

On the Road

On the Road 1998

1

Every autumn, shepherds from Transylvania set off with their flocks in search of green grass. This Sheep Road is to some extent like the famous historic Silk Road and the Salt Road.

1998

Fragmentations

Fragmentations 1970

1

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived happily with her parents and her younger sister. But the little girl lived in Romania and her parents really wanted a house for them, so they went to work in Spain. The little girl stayed with her sister in the care of her grandmother and so the years passed, until one day the little sister told her that their parents were going to return. So the little girl began to hope.

1970