Letiția Popa
Song from the backyard/ Cântece din curtea din spate
Film developed during filmic field research With the head through the wall, in collaboration with Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf.
website of the project:
"Songs From the Backyard takes a new gaze on a penitentiary center and leads an intimate conversation with one of the workers there. An honest story we all can relate to." - Eastern Neighbours Film Festival
language: Romanian
year: shot in 2018, distributed from 2022 on
running time: 20 min.
genre: documentary
starring: Gheorghiță Neamțu
camera: Jan Phillip Ernsting
sound recording: Lisa Wischer
sound design and mixing: Daniel Rizea
production: Lisa Wischer and Viktoria Jaenssen
directing and editing: Letiția Popa
producer: UNATC + Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf
avant-premieres: Cinemaiubit 2020, selected for Ji.hlava East Silver Market 2020
synopsis:
Shot in a cinéma verité style, the film was developed during a filmic field research documentary workshop.
The film depicts glimpses from Botoșani penitentiary center, where the filmmakers start to follow Gheorghiță, a worker from the police cafeteria. He is working hard to gain the trust of the guards and to blend in with his fellow inmates. As the students get closer to him, they realise how his sense of identity becomes affected by the group dynamics, formed in a cloistered and confined space.
Previous Screenings: Saratov Sufferings International Film Festival 2022, Eastern Neighbours Film Festival - The Hague, 2022
