Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
A video goes viral. It shows a man and a woman having sex while wearing masks. The woman is, nevertheless, identified. Too bad she is a teacher and supposed to be a role model. And this, moreover, in a (post-socialist but ultimately any) society that is about to get lost in a social network discourse of would-be healing squeaky-clean attitudes, pseudo-political knowing-it-all, sanctimonious chauvinism and grotesque conspiracy theories. Everyone has an opinion. The debate turns into a tribunal – about consensual sex, pornography and more.
Always up for innovative cinematic experiments, Radu Jude has crafted from this constellation an intelligent, satirical triptych: with its nonchalantly precise camerawork and manic humour found in the stress of everyday life on Bucharest’s streets, the first part shows us what contemporary cinema at the documentary-fiction interface can look like. The second part is an offbeat series of laconic, static images intended as an encyclopaedia of the symbols of our time. The film’s grand – albeit open-ended – finale is a discussion held at the school in which judgement is passed on our heroine’s right to exist.
by Radu Jude
with Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia, Olimpia Mălai, Nicodim Ungureanu, Alexandru Potocean, Andi Vasluianu
Romania / Luxembourg / Croatia / Czechia 2021 Romanian 106’ Colour

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

With

  • Katia Pascariu (Emi)
  • Claudia Ieremia (Headmistress)
  • Olimpia Mălai (Mrs. Lucia)
  • Nicodim Ungureanu (Lt. Gheorghescu)
  • Alexandru Potocean (Marius Buzdrugovici)
  • Andi Vasluianu (Mr. Otopeanu)

Crew

Written and Directed by Radu Jude
Cinematography Marius Panduru
Editing Cătălin Cristuțiu
Music Jura Ferina, Pavao Miholjevi
Sound Design Dana Bunescu
Sound Mixing Michel Schillings
Sound Hrvoje Radnic
Production Design Cristian Niculescu
Costumes Cireșica Cuciuc
Make-Up Bianca Boeroiu
Casting Viorica Capdefier
Assistant Director Isabela von Tent
Production Manager Vlad Gliga
Producer Ada Solomon
Executive Producer Carla Fotea
Co-Producers Paul Thiltges, Adrien Chef, Jiří Konečný, Ankica Jurić Tilić
Co-Production Paul Thiltges Distributions Luxemburg
endorfilm Prag
Kinorama Zagreb

Produced by

microFilm

Radu Jude

Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1977. After taking a film degree at the city’s Media University, he first worked as an assistant director before making his debut short film in 2006. His feature debut The Happiest Girl in the World, which screened in the 2009 Forum, received worldwide attention. He won the Silver Bear for Best Director with Aferim! at the 2015 Berlinale and his films Uppercase Print and The Exit of the Trains both premiered in the 2020 Forum. In 2021, he won the Golden Bear with Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn while two of his short films screened at Locarno and Venice.

Filmography

2006 Lampa cu caciula (The Tube with a Hat); short film 2007 Dimineața (In the Morning); short film 2009 Cea mai fericită fată din lume (The Happiest Girl in the World) 2011 Film pentru prieteni (A Film for Friends) 2012 Toată lumea din familia noastra (Everybody in Our Family) 2015 Aferim! 2016 Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts) 2017 Țara moartă (The Dead Nation) 2018 Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari (I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians) 2020 Uppercase Print · Ieşirea trenurilor din gară (The Exit of the Trains); co-director: Adrian Cioflâncă 2021 Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn) · Caricaturana; short film · Plastic Semiotic (Semiotic Plastic); short film 2022 Amintiri de pe Frontul de Est (Memories from the Eastern Front); short film, co-Director: Adrian Cioflâncă

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2022