In the last days Moldovan film lovers were pleasantly surprised to see the first images of the local film production “The Sofa” (“Divan”). Film production is a promising arsenal of Moldovan films.
The film was made by a young director Julia Puica and the premiere to the general public will take place only in 2017. “The Sofa” is an action comedy filmed mostly in a car on the road. The story is about the lives of two elderly men who leave the nursing home for a friend’s wedding party. The two take the blue couch from the courtyard of their nursing home and steal a car to hit the road. Meanwhile, the sofa is being looking for by a thief because he knows there were money in it. The whole affair is going on the road while the thief is trying to catch the elders. At one point, the actress Dana Ciobanu appears and the joins the old people. Filming took place in Chisinau, Ungheni, Sarata Galbena village (Hincesti disctict) and Taul Park (Donduseni district) in Moldova. The film producer Sergiu Barajin says that through this production he wanted to convey to the public that old age is not the end of life. “We want to show that old age is not the end of life, but a start of a second youth. Youth is seen through the eyes of two elders .” “Let us remain always young at heart, no matter what age we are. As long as the child in the soul is alive, we remain young” says the director Julia Puică. Famous actor starring in “The Sofa” are Mihai Curagau, Sergiu Finiti, Sergiu Voloc, and the young Dana Ciobanu. Secondary roles were played by Ghenadie Gumenco and Vadim Cernega.
Mihai Curagau and Sergiu Finiti felt their roles perfectly. Iulia Puica states that it was easy to convince Mihai Curagau to join the story because they had worked together on a short movie “Ana” and the feature film “Resentment” directed by Natalia Shaufert. “It was very easy to convince him to play in” The Sofa “. Both Mihai Curagau and Sergiu Finiti were very enthusiastic. They listened and did everything they were told to. They formed a very successful pair, joking together all the way throughout the filming” tells Julia about the great Moldovan movie and theater actors.
For Julia Puica it was the first experience as a director, but she was guided by Tatiana Beşliu, the author of “A Christmas Story.” “Tatiana told me that she had an idea of a scenario. So we decided to develop it. After numerous meetings and discussions managed to write it” recalls Julia Puica. Filming “The Sofa” movie was very heavy because the team was always on the road and clouds or the rain were their headache triggers. “Although there was no day without misadventures, it was an unforgettable experience. What impressed me the most was seeing the yellow car burning.
There were times when I procrastinated because of financial problems and time limits, but with the help of colleagues we managed to go through it. Some shots were filmed on cloudy days, even if they were meant to be filmed in the sun” shares Julia her experience. The film production budget was estimated at $ 14,000, so the artists starter a campaign on Indiegogo under the motto “$ 1 for a film.” Thus, they gathered a sum of 3,666 dollars. According to the producer Sergiu Barajin they have also received financial aid from the German Embassy in Moldova and Moldova-Film studio.
Filming lasted 12 days between October 14 and November 30, 2015. The premiere will take place in early 2017. “With this fil we want to take part in as many festivals as possible. Some festivals do not allow production launch even in the home country, which is why we can not release the film earlier than 2017” says the producer. Julia Puica is happy with every member of the team who worked on the comedy. “All team members have worked with great enthusiasm and devoted much time to the preparation and filming itself. I want the world to know them all, not only the actors and the director, as it usually happens. People, who worked on “The Sofa” film are: Sergiu Barajin (the producer) John Donica (the image director), Natalia Shaufert (the assistant director), Slava Tomsa (set designer), Jana Povalachi (the costume designer), Marin Turea (sound engineer) Tatiana Besliu (scenario), Ana Cujba (assistant camera), Calin Laur, Gheorghe Zmeu (lighting assistant), Victor Toma, Alexander Cuciuc (production assistant), Daniel Laur, Tudor Andreev (stage design assistants).
Sourse: adevarul.md
