The festival season in Bucharest has one fest after the other lined up and how fittingly to start with one on political films in these weeks of social and political turmoil.

Cinepolitica kicked of yesterday and will go on until Wednesday, September 25. It's a relatively small festival and with a less glamorous tagline but its solid selection is worth at least one or two visits. The international festival has one competition programme and four special sections, screening all possible lengths and genres.

The films are, obviously, tackling a political issue, from the most pressing problems in the Middle-East to the history of propaganda in Romanian cinema. The conference Propaganda and Manipulation at the Beginnings of Romanian Cinema is definitely one of the most intriguing titles, at least for its historic value. The other two Romanian entries feature an early Radu Gabrea take on Romania's antisemitic past, Evrei de vânzare/Jews for Sale (one wonders though why the selection doesn't also show the most recent and highly debated view on the matter, Florin Iepan's Odessa) and, excitingly, a proper Communist propaganda film from 1950, Răsună valea/The Valley Resounds. The international selection is no less impressive, including the outstanding Australian post-World-War-II drama Lore.

This is a catchy and relevant focus and the selection is solid as well but as it stands, I thinks Cinepolitica needs to have a stronger identity (the word „political“ is dangerously general) and stronger appetite for stirring its audience. As it stands, it seems a surprisingly „tame“ festival for such an explosive subject matter. It would also be good to set each film into a broader context, with more talks on the subjects, debates, and most of all be more in tune with current political events. One needs to look no further than Bucharest these days to see that the curators could have included both films and side events on the Roșia Montană situation and its social and political implications.

For a more accurate impression of the intense films, have a look at the trailer below. It's quite effective if you manage to ignore the glaring, in-your-face titles.

Ioana Moldovan, columnist, ioana.moldovan@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Cinepolitica on Facebook, credits Ionut Dobre)