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Elevator (2008 film)

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Elevator
File:Elevator poster english version.jpg
Directed byGeorge Dorobanţu
Written byGabriel Pintilei
Produced byAlexandra M. Păun
StarringCristi Petrescu
Iulia Verdeş
CinematographyGeorge Dorobanțu
Edited byGeorge Dorobanţu
Music byAda Milea
Release date
2008
Running time
85 minutes
CountryTemplate:FilmRomania
LanguageRomanian
Budget$300 (est.)

Elevator is a Romanian independent film directed by George Dorobanţu and written by Gabriel Pintilei. The screenplay adapts Pintilei's own 2004 stageplay Elevator, which had the premise inspired by a real story that took place in London in 2002. Both the movie and the play won several national and international awards.

Plot

"A boy and a girl, high school teenagers, want to get away from the world and be alone for a while, so they hide in an abandoned factory on the outskirts. But there they fall in a trap of their own intention, and get stuck in the cargo elevator. There is no one around to hear them, and nobody knows their whereabouts. Tension arises after each failed attempt to escape, while they also have to deal with the fact that their entire universe is now reduced to a metal box smaller than a room."

[1]

Background

In 2004, during a student party at the UNATC (Bucharest's University of Drama and Cinematography), Gabriel Pintilei starts working on what would eventually become the Elevator play. [2]After a few months he decides to participate at DramAcum2 contest, which he subsequently won.

Alexandra Păun and George Dorobanţu became interested in the cinematographic adaptation of the play after seeing a stage version directed by Adriana Zaharia at the "Teatrul Foarte Mic" theater, in Bucharest. In 2005 they met Gabriel Pintilei, and after seeing the performances of Iulia Verdeş and Cristi Petrescu in the play (directed this time by Pintilei himself), they asked them to take the leading (and only) parts in the movie.[3]

Principal photography lasted for 18 days in August/September 2005. The shoot took place in the Odeon Theater's cargo elevator. The editing dragged on for two years, and Florin Piersic Jr joined during the post-production phase as a technical consultant.[4] Ada Milea composed the score, while the end titles' song was written by Dan Lăzărescu.

Elevator was screened for the first time in 2008 at the "International Film Festival of Uruguay".

Awards

  • "Best Romanian Debut of 2008" award from the Romanian Film Critics Association, Bucharest, Romania (May 2009)
  • "Audience Choice Award - Best Film" and "Special Commendation - Best First Film" at South-East European Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA (May 2009)
  • "Best Debut Award" at Gopo Awards 2009, Bucharest, Romania (March 2009)
  • "Best Editing Award" from the Romanian Filmmakers Association - UCIN, Bucharest, Romania (February 2009)
  • "Audience Choice Award" (Best feature film made by adults about or for youth) at Auburn Film Festival for Children and Youth, Auburn, Australia (September 2008)
  • "Fresh Generation Award" at Fresh Film Fest, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (August 2008)
  • "Best Romanian Debut Award" at Transilvania International Film Festival, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (June 2008)[5]

References