SPOTLIGHT ON: INTERSECTIONS!

During the first two months of the year, Reactor, in wonderful partnership with Cinema Arta and the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj, is organizing a fantastic, multi-layered artistic program exploring the exciting intersection between theatre and film! 

Focus: Intersections is a cheerful artistic celebration centered on the creative cross-pollination of theatrical and cinematic techniques. Proudly organized by Reactor of Creation and Experiment alongside Cinema ARTA and the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj, the magic unfolds from January to February 2023 across 3 delightful venues (Reactor, Cinema ARTA, and the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj). Get ready for captivating theatre plays using cinematic elements, beautiful film screenings highlighting this artsy dialogue, lively chats with the featured and guest artists, plus a special showcase of the theatrical and cinematic workshop led by the brilliant Radu Jude and the Reactor team!

We couldn't help but ask ourselves (the core coordinating team) what inspiring thoughts behind this project we wanted to share with you, our amazing audience. Our lovely colleagues, Alexa Băcanu and Oana Mardare, happily shared their thoughts in a quick, friendly chat.

What is the exciting context behind the events in "Focus: Intersections"? What are the big ideas driving this wonderful project?

Alexa Băcanu: The focus is a shining part of our INTERSECTIONS program, which sparked from a joyful desire to dive deep into cinema from a theatrical perspective and vice versa! We wanted to see how these two beautiful arts can meet and enrich one another, what makes each medium so special, and how storytelling and messages transform when they leap from the stage to the screen. While we are mostly theatre enthusiasts—though some of our wonderful Reactor team members do have film experience—we couldn't wait to explore the thrilling synergy between these sister arts and play with new ways of expressing ourselves, both on stage and on screen. It’s a natural step, especially since this artistic curiosity was already buzzing in our team, with several Reactor shows already playfully using cinematic tools in unique ways!

At the same time, we love how easy it has become for everyone to record, edit, and share videos today. It’s no longer an exclusive, elite club requiring super-specialized training and massive budgets, but a delightful, everyday way to document our lives and express ourselves on social media! How has this changed the way we connect with moving images? How do we perceive them in the vibrant Tik Tok era compared to 20 years ago, and what does an artistic experiment even mean today? All these fascinating questions deserve to be asked, and we wanted to create a welcoming space for reflection through this Focus and the broader cultural program surrounding it.

Where did the lovely idea of having multiple venues for the Focus: Intersections events come from?

Oana Mardare: Our exciting January and February events are spreading the joy across three wonderful cultural venues in Cluj! At Reactor, we’ll be presenting a fantastic selection of shows that creatively weave in cinematic elements. Cinema ARTA is an incredibly valuable partner in this project and in Reactor’s daily life. We've happily collaborated with them before, always looking to build bridges with this very special cinema that operates with the same passionate, independent spirit as other cozy cultural spaces in Cluj and Romania. We truly resonate with their vision, so we wanted to create plenty of "intersections" (pun intended!) with this beautiful venue, whose recent rebirth was such wonderful news for a local scene still missing treasures like the Paintbrush Factory (#foreverlove). We believe in the magic of solidarity between these independent spaces, so after some lovely chats about how to join forces, we dreamed up this joint program. It features beautifully curated events, but also leaves room for exciting, high-energy experiments, like the one we are thrilled to present on January 18th! We want to see just how much theatrical performance can fit into a cinema screen—it's going to be so much fun! Right now, we are working hard in our workshop with Radu Jude on video materials that will have a live performance twist for the 18th. We hope the energy is just as electric as the workshop has been! To answer your question, our third venue, the Hungarian State Theatre, came from the inspiring idea of connecting independent spaces with state institutions, especially when we share a passion for the same themes. We spotted two fantastic plays in their repertoire that blossomed from films—Cries and Whispers and Illegitimate. Although the second one couldn't make the schedule, we are so happy to keep the dialogue alive with this partner venue through Cries and Whispers, which you can enjoy both as a brilliant stage play and in its original masterpiece film format by Ingmar Bergman!

The Focus: Intersections adventure kicks off with an inspiring discussion, Intersections Between Theatre and Film, moderated by the wonderful Daniel Iftene, PhD lecturer at the Faculty of Theatre and Film at Babeș-Bolyai University, who has done extensive research on Romanian directors bridging both worlds between 1900-1989. Joining the lively panel will be: Radu Jude (acclaimed film and theatre director), Emőke Pál (versatile theatre and film actress), Mihai Păcurar (creative visual artist, scenographer, and theatre director), and Adonis Tanța (charismatic actor and director of both stage and screen). Come join the fun on January 17th at 8:00 PM at Reactor of Creation and Experiment!

On January 18th, starting at 8:00 PM at Cinema Arta, don't miss Exercises in Theatre and Film! This is a cheerful showcase of the creative pieces made during the workshop led by Radu Jude with the Reactor team, bringing together 15 talented theatre artists (actors, directors, and playwrights) and 4 energetic Film and Media students.

Also in January at Reactor, you can catch the fantastic plays All the Things Alois Took from Me on January 20th and 21st at 8:00 PM, and Habituation on January 25th and 26th at 8:00 PM, both utilizing cinematic tools in amazingly creative ways. In February, the fun continues at Reactor with two more incredible shows: (In)Correct on the 4th and 5th at 8:00 PM, and Interior-Light on February 17th and 18th at the same time.

The delightful film screening series at Cinema Arta starts on January 22nd at 7:00 PM with Peter Watkins' La Commune (Paris, 1871), a brilliant, documentary-style historical recreation. Next up is the touching film Performing Juliet directed by András Visky on January 29th at 7:00 PM—a documentary following the moving story of Melissa Lorraine, a Chicago actress playing Juliet, and her connection to a woman in Austro-Hungary who bravely resisted political pressure in a Romanian gulag. February brings two more cinematic treats! First, the surreal and playful peek behind the curtains of the opera world, Diva Divina Assoluta, directed by Adonis Tanța, screening on February 11th at 7:00 PM. The grand finale of our film program is the iconic Cries and Whispers by the legendary Ingmar Bergman on February 15th at 7:00 PM. This is beautifully paired with Andrei Șerban's spectacular stage adaptation of Cries and Whispers, performing on February 16th at 8:00 PM at the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj. What a treat!

Focus: Intersections is proudly organized as part of the multi-annual cultural program "Intersections", warmly co-funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration.

The program does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the program or how the results of the program may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.

Great news! Admission to the panel discussion at Reactor on January 17th and the workshop presentation on January 18th is absolutely free, based on available seating. For all other wonderful events, tickets can be purchased directly from the host venues, as well as online via Eventbook (for Reactor and Cinema Arta) and Biletmaster (for the Hungarian State Theatre). We can't wait to see you there!