THE SUN AND THE MOON

Directed By Ioana Uricaru

Indie Express: Tell us about your film?

Synopsis:

Romania, 1967. It is a cold, windy November day that starts like any other day for her: alone, waking up early to prepare breakfast before leaving for the factory. Today, the electric heater breaks. Maybe her husband, whom she never gets to see, will fix it when he comes home from the night shift.

IE: How did you come up with the idea for the film?

Ioana: This is a period piece set in Romania during the 60s. It was inspired by stories I heard about people being transplanted from the countryside to the city and the unraveling of family and social fabric as a result.

IE: How did you assemble your production team?

Ioana: They were all fellow students at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. I had helped some of them on their thesis films, and others came on board just because they liked the story.

IE: How did you find your cast? 

Ioana: I used online casting databases to find the male lead (Ajredin Elez) and our producer, Ilana Lapid, recommended that I audition the female lead, Elena (Kopaleichvili). It was extremely important for me that they looked the part – that they looked believable as Romanians.

IE: How long did the film take?  (From conception to final edit)

Ioana: I wrote the script in about 2 hours, on an October day. We shot the following March (shooting dates were decided by the school’s facilities schedule, we had to shoot during Spring break). It took a few months to edit, being a full-time student with a part-time job. 

IE: Tell us a little about your process of directing (writing) this film.

Ioana: I was very involved in every detail of the image, everything you see on screen is there because we wanted it there and we put it there. Trying to reconstruct the “feel” of my country was a powerful, personal emotional experience. I raided the closets and dowry chests of Romanian-Americans in search of authentic objects, and we bought some things on ebay. It was important for me that the film looks and feels exactly as I imagined it. We only had three days of shooting, and it was a priority for me to make them pleasant for the crew while also being very disciplined about our work.

IE: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?

Ioana: Maintaining a richness of accurate details to make the characters real, while at the same time welcoming a certain degree of formal artificiality.

IE: Any particular moments from filming that stand out for you?

Ioana: The beginning of the first day of shooting. The evening before, the set was still under construction. The production designer –Brooke Hanson – and her team of amazingly dedicated assistants made it all happen overnight. When I came on set at 8 am, it was a fairy tale.

IE: Tell us about the film’s festival experience so far?

Ioana: AFI is the first major festival it has been accepted into. It’s also playing in a couple of smaller  European festivals and we are waiting to hear back from a multitude of submissions.

IE: What are you most looking forward to at the AFI festival?

Ioana: To hear what the audience has to say about the film and be able to relay that to the cast and crew members who won’t be able to be at the screening.

IE: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?  What was your favorite question?  How was the dialogue afterwards?

Ioana: I haven’t really participated in an open Q&A before. But by far the most frequent question I get from viewers is “where did you shoot this????”

IE: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

Ioana: Krysztof Kieslowski. Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu. Cristian Mungiu. The two films that served as inspiration for “The Sun and The Moon” are La Vie de Boheme by Aki Kaurismaki (consciously) and Sunrise by F.W. Murnau (unconsciously)

IE: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

Ioana: I grew up on old Hollywood and Italian neorealist films. Cinema has always felt like the promise land to me.

 IE: What is next for you? 

Ioana: I have received a Sloan grant to direct my next short, “The Witness”. I am also working on a couple of feature scripts.

IE: What is next for the film?

Ioana: Hopefully more festival selections!

IE: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?

Ioana: Don’t try to squeeze a feature into 15 minutes. It will feel like a trailer J

IE: What are your favorite short films currently on the festival circuit? (Like your short film playlist)

Ioana: I didn’t have a chance to see any of the shorts that are brand new on the festival circuit.