The new film directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Freedom, has been selected in the Official Competition of the Sarajevo Film Festival (August 11 – 18, 2023), where it will compete for the big trophy called The Heart of Sarajevo. Inspired by real events, Freedom tells a lesser-known story that happened in Sibiu, during the 1989 Revolution.
In the chaos and panic generated by the crowd protests against the authorities in December 1989, a militia unit in Sibiu becomes the target of a violent assault that degenerates into a bloody confrontation between soldiers, militiamen, security guards and civilians. Trying to escape the siege, several men are captured by the Army and accused of being terrorists. Actors Alex Calangiu, Cătălin Herlo, Ionuț Caras and Iulian Postelnicu play the main roles.
Last year, while it was still in production, Freedom won the Jury Prize at CineLink Industry Days, the program dedicated to projects in development at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
“I am glad that our film has its international premiere in Sarajevo, where it has been recognized since the production phase. I am eager to see how the festival audience will react to the story – we are bringing to the screen an alert, action film based on an extensive research of what happened in Sibiu in December 1989. It is not a film that wants to find the truth, I think it will raise and more question marks about those complicated days,” says Tudor Giurgiu.
The cast of the film also includes Alexandru Papadopol, Andi Vasluianu or Mirela Oprișor. The screenplay is written by Cecilia Ștefănescu and Tudor Giurgiu, based on an idea by Napoleon Helmis.
Freedom premiered at the 22nd edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for the most popular Romanian film in the program. The film will be distributed throughout the country starting from October.
The Sarajevo Film Festival is the most important and largest film festival in Southeast Europe and one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in 1995, during the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.
Tudor Giurgiu is one of the best-known Romanian directors and producers. He directed films such as Sick Connections (2006), About People and Snails (2012), Why Me? (2015) or Parking (2019). He is the founder of the production house Libra Films and the President of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF).