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Event
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu
Monday, September 26 at 7:00pm In Person:Filmmaker Andrei Ujicâ
Members $9 / Public $13 (Includes Reception)
Cinema's propagandistic power is in full effect in Andrei Ujicâ's montage epic, The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, a fresco starring Romania's fallen ruler and his wife, Elena. Ujicâ edits his images in order to illustrate a higher truth. But what constitutes reality when its images have been stage-managed into baroque pageantry or quasi-Hollywood musicals by a delusional dictator? Nicolae Ceausescu's megalomania and self-aggrandizement are legendary. As Romania's tyrannical President from 1974 to 1989, he created a bizarre cult of personality for himself. As Romania plunged into mass poverty under his draconian austerity program and his banning of contraception (which caused widespread child abandonment, botched clandestine abortions and countless AIDS-infected orphans), Ceausescu continued to be fêted the world over. He was knighted by the Queen of England, visited by President Nixon and was received warmly by Charles de Gaulle, Mao Tse-tung and most auspiciously by the North Koreans, whose welcoming ceremonies for him rivaled those of the Beijing Olympics. Eschewing voice-over commentary, the film's brilliant montage and subtle sound reconstruction create a sui generis film. Four years in the making and culled from one thousand hours of archival footage both state sanctioned and private this spellbinding adventure unfolds as if from the nostalgic, solipsistic memory of Ceausescu himself." Andréa Picard (Romania, 2011, 180 min., color, Digibeta
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LocationCinema Arts Centre
423 Park Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743
United States
Categories
Kid Friendly: No |
Dog Friendly: No |
Non-Smoking: Yes! |
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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