Spy/Master

Berlinale Series 2023

“Go, you idiot, while you still can.” Victor Godeanu, a high-ranking officer in Romania’s secret service and advisor to President Nicolae Ceaușescu, is only ostensibly addressing this survival tip to a wild bear he wants to spare while out hunting. In reality he is talking to himself. In 1978, with his espionage activities for the Soviet Union in danger of being exposed, he makes a risky move: during negotiations for the ransom of Romanian-Germans in Bonn, he offers himself to the US embassy as a defector.
Loosely based on a true story, showrunners Adina Sădeanu and Kirsten Peters have created a game of spy poker between the CIA, Securitate, KGB and Stasi in which no one is putting their cards on the table. In the six episodes, director Christopher Smith repeatedly breaks out of the narrative chronology in order to make the audience feel as disoriented as his protagonists – all of which is embedded in a detailed reconstruction of Romania and West Germany in the 1970s.

by Adina Sădeanu, Kirsten Peters, Christopher Smith
with Alec Secăreanu, Parker Sawyers, Svenja Jung, Ana Ularu, Laurențiu Bănescu, Andreea Vasile, Nico Mirallegro, Iulian Postelnicu, Claudiu Bleonț, Elvira Deatcu Romania / Germany 2023 Romanian, English, German 96’ Colour

With

Alec Secăreanu (Victor Godeanu)
Parker Sawyers (Frank Jackson)
Svenja Jung (Ingrid Von Weizendorff)
Ana Ularu (Carmen Popescu)
Laurențiu Bănescu (Mircea Voinea)
Andreea Vasile (Adela Godeanu)
Nico Mirallegro (John Miller)
Iulian Postelnicu (Sorin Rancea)
Claudiu Bleonț (Nicolae Ceaușescu)
Elvira Deatcu (Elena Ceaușescu)

Crew

Creators	Adina Sădeanu, Kirsten Peters
Director	Christopher Smith
Screenplay	Adina Sădeanu, Kirsten Peters
Cinematography	Ben Wheeler BSC, Ádám Fillenz HCA
Editing	Stuart Gazzard, Réka Lemhényi
Music	Łukasz Targosz
Sound Design	Marius Leftărache
Sound	János Csáki
Production Design	Zsófia Tasnádi
Costumes	Sosa Juristovszky
Make-Up	Adrienn Schön
Producer	Ioanina Pavel
Executive Producers	Johnathan Young, Anke Greifeneder, Antony Root
Co-Producers	Viktória Petrányi, Tudor Reu
Co-Production	Proton Cinema Budapest Mobra Films Bucharest