Alexandru Petru Bǎdelițǎ

Film

Herta Müller is a Nobel Prize-winning writer born in Romania whose work is a subtle mixture of realism, allegory and surrealism. She emigrated to Germany during the Communist era. “Travelling on One Leg” is a novel that describes emigration through the eyes of a young woman, Irene.

My mother, too, emigrated from Romania, fourteen years ago. She went to Italy. For the first three years we communicated by letters and photos. I wanted to make a film that would be inspired by elements in Herta Müller’s book and by my mother’s life. I want to talk about the struggles and experiences of a young woman in the 1980s who emigrates and experiences freedom far from the regime of her native land. In 1985, in Communist Romania, the thirty year-old Irene falls deeply in love with a German, Franz. They have a short and intense romance. When Franz leaves Romania, Irene decides to follow him to Berlin to be with him. After her arrival, Irene gradually comes to realise that Franz no longer wants to be with her. She is sucked into a spiral of melancholy and nostalgia for her lost love and distant homeland.

Synopsis

In Romania, during the Communist period, in 1985, Irene, aged thirty, falls deeply in love with a German, Franz. They have a short and intense romance. When Franz leaves Romania, Irene decides to follow him to Berlin to be with him. After her arrival, Irene gradually comes to realise that Franz no longer wants to be with her. She is sucked into a spiral of melancholy and nostalgia for her lost love and distant homeland.

Alexandru Petru Bǎdelițǎ

Alexandru is a Romanian filmmaker who works in France. Holding a Master's degree in Film Editing from the National Film School of Bucharest, he is interested in cinema and contemporary art and works across genres: fiction, documentary, animation and experimental films. He is also a transdisciplinary filmmaker and writes, direct, films, and does the video and sound editing. “I like to tell the stories of ordinary people through filmmaking. My works are mostly autobiographical and talk about identity, family and loneliness,” he says.

www.alexbade.com

Remerciements

Patrick Bailly-Maître-Grand, Sonia Casandra Andreică, Heiko Senst, Gwénaël Roeland, Thomas Hakim, Drehluță Ecaterina Aurelia, prof. univ. dr. Cristina Ionescu, Bădeliță Petru, Corentin Bastin, Jérémie Veyres, François Bonenfant, Daniel Dobbels, Madeleine Van Doren