MIRACOL / MIRACLE
Sunday, June 19, 4:00 pm
Miracle Theatre
535 8th St SE, Washington, DC 20003
Director: Bogdan George Apetri, 2021, subtitles, 118 minutes
Followed by a Q&A with actress Ioana Bugarin and film critic Mihai Fulger
Divided into two chapters, MIRACLE follows young nun Cristina as she sneaks out of her isolated monastery to attend to an urgent matter. Her enigmatic journey takes her all around town, but she is seemingly unable to solve her problem and find the man she is looking for. Out of options, she returns in the evening only to meet an unexpected fate on her way back to the convent. The second part of the film deals with Marius Preda, a determined police detective trying to understand what happened to her. Marius retraces Cristina’s journey, step by step, through all the places she visited. In a perfectly mirrored structure, his investigation uncovers clues and revelations leading not only to the unfathomable truth behind Cristina’s mysterious actions, but possibly, to an actual miracle as well.
The third feature film directed by Bogdan George Apetri, who also wrote, produced and edited it. Following NEIDENTIFICAT/UNIDENTIFIED, MIRACOL/MIRACLE is the second film in a planned trilogy using the same fictional universe and shot in the director’s hometown of Piatra Neamț (northeastern Romania) and its surroundings. The leading actors are Emanuel Pârvu, who played a short part in the previous film as well, and Ioana Bugarin, one of the most promising Romanian young actress, who has already worked with actors such as Radu Gabrea, Stere Gulea, Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, Ruxandra Ghițescu, Bogdan Theodor Olteanu, Vlad Păunescu and Iulia Rugină. Actor Bogdan Farcaș, who starred in the previous film, returns with a cameo. Ana Ularu, the leading actress in the debut feature of Bogdan George Apetri, PERIFERIC/OUTBOUND (2010), plays a part in this film as well. The two feature films, NEIDENTIFICAT/UNIDENTIFIED and MIRACOL/MIRACLE, were actually shot back-to-back in Piatra Neamț in the summer of 2019. The film’s director of photography is Oleg Mutu, one of the most respected Romanian cinematographers, who worked with the likes of Cristian Mungiu, Cristi Puiu, Sergei Loznitsa, Aleksandr Mindadze, Igor Cobileanski, Marian Crișan, Tomasz Wasilewski, Radu Potcoavă, Anca Damian, Florin Șerban and Liviu Săndulescu.
Selections, nominations & awards:
- Grand Prix (Best Film) – Warsaw FF 2021;
- Critics’ Prize - CinEast - Central and Eastern European FF 2021;
- Venice FF 2021 (Horizons competition; world premiere);
- Zurich FF 2021 (competition);
- Vancouver IFF 2021;
- Hamburg FF 2021;
- Stockholm FF 2021 (competition);
- Tallinn Black Nights FF 2021;
- Lyon Quais du Polar FF 2022;
- Cleveland IFF (Central and Eastern European competition);
- International Thriller FF - Reims Polar 2022