Tipografic majuscul

In 1981, chalk slogans written in uppercase letters started appearing in public spaces in the Romanian city of Botoşani. They demanded freedom, alluded to the democratic developments taking place in Romania’s socialist sister countries or simply called for improvements in the food supply. Mugur Călinescu was behind them, who was still at school at the time and whose case is documented in the files of the Romanian secret police. Theatre director Gianina Cărbunariu created a documentary play based on this material. Besides showing a production of the play, Radu Jude also uses archive footage from Romanian TV from the era. This dialectical montage creates an image of a dictatorial surveillance state, drawing on the authorised popular entertainment of the Ceaușescu regime in the process in order to unmask it. Cooking shows alternate with interrogations, transcripts of wiretapped phone calls with recommendations to exercise instead of taking sedatives. This not only shows what amazing finds can be unearthed in archives, but also how such materials can be used today to talk about yesterday with thoughtfulness and insight while avoiding the pitfalls of re-enactment. (Berlinale)