Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife
Arsenie Boca, a priest, theologian, and mystic persecuted by the communist regime, is considered holy by many believers, although he has yet to be canonized. Documentary filmmaker Alexandru Solomon and a group of selected believers set out on a pilgrimage in Arsenie’s footsteps and embark on a reflection of his (after)life, one that leads us – with humor and fantasy - through our present confusion and global fears.
In the early 1990s, Solomon emerged as a young director of photography and he started making documentaries aside from filming feature films. Solomon was among the first Romanian film makers who committed themselves to a then compromised genre; today, he is one of the leading political film makers from Romania and active on the international documentary scene. His recent work triggered public debates about the function of documentary film within the public sphere and contributed to re establishing documentary film as an arena for reframing Romania’s recent history. Solomon’s previous work, The Great Communist Bank Robbery (2004), broadcast on Arte and as part of BBC4’s prestigious Storyville series, was awarded Best Film at the History Film Festival in Pessac, France and the Prize for Social Values at Documenta Madrid. His Cold Waves (2007) is a chilling slice of political history that played for 12 weeks in Romanian theatres. It deals with the love and hate story between Radio Free Europe, the Romanian audiences and the communist regime. Kapitalism our secret recipe (2010), speaks of the rise of a new ruling class in the East (produced for Arte and RTBF with Media support). Tarzan’s Testicles (2017), which premiered in Karlovy Vary, is a film about utopias & a metaphoric drama that threads the similar destinies of monkeys & men.
