The Father Who Moves Mountains, Daniel Sandu’s second feature film, has been selected to participate in competition at the Shanghai International Film Festival, taking place June 11th – 20th, 2021.
Inspired by true events, the film tells the story about guilt and love, fairness and compromise; about a father’s struggle to save his son. Adrian Titieni stars in the film written and directed by Daniel Sandu, lensed by Tudor Vladimir Panduru, with production design by Simona Pădurețu, editor Mircea Olteanu and executive producer Tudor Reu. The main score was created by Petre Bog, the LA-based composer with Romanian roots. The cast is rounded by Valeriu Andriuță (Beyond The Hills), Judith State (Sieranevada), Tudor Smoleanu (Graduation) and Radu Botar (The Cardinal).
The film is produced by Mobra Films with the support of the Romanian National Film Center, coproduced by Film i Väst, Filmgate Films, Studioul cinematografic al Ministerului Culturii, Mindset Productions and TVR – Romanian Television.
Daniel Sandu: I believe in a type of cinema, let’s call it ‘maximalist’, one meant for the public – with each film, I try to tell a story that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, to build strong and engaging characters. It makes me happy that the film will premiere in the country that has become the most important film market in the world, and I hope that Romanian audiences will warmly receive the film, as they did, in fact, with my first feature One Step Behind The Seraphim for which I received 8 Gopo awards, including Best Feature and Best Director.
Two years ago, the Chinese film market grew to surpass the American one, with total box office numbers reaching an impressive 64 million yuan (about 9 billion USD). The number of cinemas in China has grown 20-fold in the last 15 years, and presently boasts more than 75.000 screens, making China the largest film market in the world. At the same time, the notoriety of Chinese film festivals has been on a large rise, and the Shanghai International Film Festival has been promoted by the International Federation of Film Producers Association (FIAPF) to a Category A Festival, and has hosted the world’s greatest stars, such as directors Emir Kusturica and Nuri Bilge Ceylan, General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival Thierry Fremaux, and French actress lsabelle Huppert, who attended for the premiere The Chinese Widow, the first Chinese film made by a Palme d’Or winner, Bille August. Parallel to the film program, the festival organises an annual film market, has competitive sections, and awards prizes in categories such as Best Film Feature (the Golden GobletAward), Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Actor and Actress. Last year, over 3,500 films from over 100 countries registered for pre-selection.
One Step Behind The Seraphim, the first feature film directed by Daniel Sandu brought over forty thousand viewers to Romanian cinemas and was ranked one of the Top Viewed titles on HBO GO. His short films, Horsepower and The Counting Device, have been selected in numerous international festivals.
After his feature film debut, Daniel Sandu directed Tuff Money, a TV miniseries for HBO.
Production on The Father Who Moves Mountains lasted three years, requiring favourable conditions for shooting in the snow and blizzard, involving difficult mountain shots at high altitudes, accessible by drone and helicopter. Shooting took place mainly in Busteni, Romania and the Bucegi Mountains in early 2020 before being shut down due to the quarantine restrictions in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The film will be distributed nationally in summer 2021 by Voodoo Films. More information about national screenings will be available soon on the distributor’s website: voodoofilms.ro