Andrei Ujică • Romania-Germany • 2010 • A glimpse inside the mind of a narcissistic leader.
On Christmas Day, 1989, Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elsa, died by firing squad–the last people to be executed by the state. A brutal dictator, Ceaușescu had presided over the country for more than three decades, helming one of the most oppressive communist regimes in Eastern Europe. While press freedom and civil liberties characterized the beginning of his reign, dissent soon became a crime punishable by death. A fearsome propaganda machine amplified Ceaușescu’s power as he laid waste to a once prosperous nation, and turned neighbor against neighbor.
Crafted from over 1,000 hours of official state broadcasts and intimate home movies, The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu is a tour-de-force political documentary, providing a glimpse inside the mind of an increasingly narcissistic and paranoid leader. Andrei Ujică's third documentary premiered at Cannes, Toronto, Reykjavik, IFFR - International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Bergen International Film Festival, where it won Best International Documentary.
Up Next in Ricky D'Ambrose
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The Round-Up
Miklós Jancsó • Hungary • 1966 • A hypnotic, dazzling vision of war.
Miklós Jancsó’s most renowned work depicts a prison camp in the aftermath of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. After the Hapsburg monarc...
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Walden
Jonas Mekas • United States • 1969 • An epic and intimate document of 1960s New York.
A 27-year-old Lithuanian émigré sets out to film his life as it unfolds. In six reels, we encounter several chapters—including the 1960s New York arts scene, featuring many of the filmmaker’s friends: Stan Brak...
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Out 1 - Episode 1: From Lili to Thomas
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
Two theater troupes rehearse avant-garde versions of Aeschylus plays climaxing in a hypnotic warm-up exercise that unfolds like a clothed orgy. We meet Colin, a deadpan, deaf-mute busker, and Frédérique, a wayward young con artist.
