Horia, the debut feature film of director Ana-Maria Comănescu, will be released on the big screens in the country on April 10 and is distributed by August Film. Vladimir Teca, Angelina Pavel are in the main roles. The cast also includes Liviu Cheloiu, Daniela Nane, Mihaela Velicu, Dragoș Olaru and Robert Onofrei.
The film, a road movie and coming of age in equal measure, based on a script written by Ana-Maria Comănescu, tells the coming of age story of Horia, an almost 18-year-old teenager from a Romanian village, who is in love with a girl who lives in the other side of the country. After an argument with his father, Horia makes an impulsive move and leaves home on his father's old Mobra moped. His path is hindered by Stela, a clever little girl, and the two are forced by circumstances to travel together and overcome a series of obstacles.
“I wanted to debut with a road movie because it's one of my favorite genres, especially the ones from the 70s, and I wanted to start from clichés like the gas station, the police, the American diner, but interpret them in the Romanian space, with everything it offers. But the film is not about Horia's journey, but about what he learns along the way, about the world, relationships and himself, through all the characters he knows. It's a colorful, sunny film with images and a soundtrack that makes you feel the nostalgia of adolescence and the joy of hitting the road.” said director Ana-Maria Comănescu.
Filming took place in spectacular areas in Romania, which the public will have the opportunity to discover from a new perspective. Horia's journey begins in Capidava, in a village with an outlet to the Danube, imagined by the directors, where the character has lived all his life. Its path continues in the Dobrogei Gorges, Tucoaia, Lake Iacobdeal, crossing the Danube from Brăila by ferry, plain areas, with landscapes near Târgoviște and Câmpina, more mountainous areas such as Piatra Arsă, Râșnov, the King's Road from Sinaia, Narcissus Meadow and last but not least, Transalpina. The entire film crew traveled with the main character, with stops of 2 or 3 days in a new location to film, all of which totaled 26 days of shooting.
“We set out from the beginning for Horia to be a feel good movie – and I think we succeeded. The film has a lot of super catchy elements: from music and locations, to new and very talented actors, such as Vladimir Țeca and Angelina Pavel. So we can't wait to see the reactions of the public in Romania. Besides that, Horia is a film that Ana-Maria and I are very attached to, and that makes us even more excited. We have been working on it for almost 6 years, during which time we both grew up with Horia, and the story of the making of the film has many things in common with the story of our main character.” declares Carla Fotea, producer.
Horia had its world premiere in November 2023, at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, and in Romania the public watched it in a national preview at Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest, presented in the competitive section Autumn Previews, where it won the Audience Award.
Ana-Maria Comănescu is a screenwriter and director, born in Bucharest. He made three short films during his studies at UNATC (In the House, Te mai uitis i la om and Pipa, sexul i omleta), obtaining various awards and selections at international student festivals, as well as two nominations at the Gopo Awards in 2015, respectively 2017. After graduating, he worked for years on shoots as an assistant director and in parallel experimented directing both commercials and videos and an independent short film, Dead Cat, which premiered in 2023 at the Thessaloniki Festival. During the development of his feature film debut with the film Horia, he participated in workshops and co-production markets such as Sarajevo Talents or MIDPOINT Feature Launch. From 2022, he started his doctoral studies in Cinematography and teaches as a teaching assistant in the Film Directing section of UNATC.
The script is written by Ana-Maria Comănescu, while Carla Fotea (House with dolls, Trains leaving the station) and Ada Solomon (Poziția copiluli, Aferim!, Babardea cu bucluc or porno balamuc) are the producers of the film, together with Rossitsa Valkanova ( Klas Film Bulgaria) and Nikolina Vučetić Zečević (Biberche Productions Serbia), co-producers. Tudor Mircea (La Gomera, Comoara) is the director of photography, Adeline Andreea Bădescu (#dogpoopgirl, Lumea ea mea) is costume designer and scenographer, the editing, made by Tudor D. Popescu (Taximetristi, Urma), and Alin Zăbrăuțeanu took care of sound design and mixing.
