AND THEN WE DANCED
4 SEPT | 7PM
ELVIRA POPESCO CINEMA
Dacia Bvd. 77
DRAMA, 105', 2019
Director: LEVAN AKIN
The opening film of Bucharest International Dance Film Festival - the fifth edition - is "And Then We Danced". The third film of the Swedish director Levan Akin is regarded as a portrait of a conservative society that still has the power to remove or disregard citizens who do not follow the rules instated by tradition.
In a world in which the golden rule is submission, the Georgian dance cannot be or express anything else but virility. And what happens when a teenager’s first crush meets beliefs that deny him the right to happiness?
Presented in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section of the Cannes International Film Festival 2019, Levan Akin's film has received negative comments from officials and religious radicals in Georgia, where he hasn't run yet. The Swedish premiere of the film will take place on September 13. For now, "And Then We Danced" was nominated alongside other two titles for being Sweden's official submission to the Oscars.
“And Then We Danced captivated me from the first frame. I rarely find movies where the dance breathes through the screen. It’s a story told intelligently and without compromise about discovery and overtaking one’s destiny. In a contemporary Georgian society in which the dance has to performed traditionally patriarchal and tough, Merab discovers his sexuality, his artistic personality and also a deep connection with family. Levan Gelbakhiani, a wonderful dancer, brings out and exciting performance in which the body bears both the traces of a collective past danced with national pride, and the impulse of a present that incites change. ”