california dreaming

California dreamin, by Romanian director Cristian Nemescu (who sadly died at the age of 27 in a car accident last summer), just won the Un certain regard prize at 2007 Cannes Film festival. The film (inspired by real events occurred in 1999 during the war in Kosovo) tells about the surreal luck that arrives in a small romanian village, when a Nato train loaded with military equipment and supervised by American soldiers has to stop at the the local trail station...
In the leading role a fantastic Armand Assante.

Cannes, France Romanian director Cristian Nemescu was posthumously awarded the prestigious Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival Saturday for his movie California Dreamin. Nemescu died in a tragic car accident last August 2006 at the age of only 27. He was considered the great hope of young Romanian cinema with his international award-winning short films.

"It was by far the most vibrant and most free cinematic offer that we have seen during the past 10 days," the head of the jury, French director Pascale Ferran said at the award ceremonies.

A total of 20 movies competed for the prize in this category. This year, the jury bestowed the Un Certain Regard prize for best film on young talents and awards on two other films for innovative and daring works.

The jury were at first reluctant to let the film compete as the director had died, but reached their decision after the film screened at Cannes, Ferran added.

Nemescu's movie focuses on events during the war in Kosovo in 1999 when the head of the railway station in a small Romanian village stops a NATO train transporting military equipment. Supervised by US soldiers, it is crossing Romania without official documents and with only verbal approval from the Romanian government.

Israeli director Eran Kolirin won Un Prix Coup de Corps for his movie Bikur Hatizmoret (The Band's Visit) about a small Egyptian police band who visit Israel to play at an initiation ceremony only to find themselves stranded at the airport. They eventually end up in a desolate Israeli town in the middle of the desert.

Italian director Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi was awarded the Le Prix Special du Jury for Le Reve de la Nuit d'Avant (Dreams of the Night Before). The title of the film has since been changed to Actrice, Cannes Film Festival authorities confirmed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Sunday.

The movie focuses on an actor who is haunted by her role of Natalia Petrovna, heroine of Turgenev's A Month in The Country, which she is having difficulty rehearsing. Her dreams of the night before resemble a nightmare.

Romanian director posthumously awarded Prix Un Certain Regard for California Dreamin'