The Campaign

The Campaign, also known as Berliner, is Marian Crișan’s most recent feature, a political comedy, starring Ovidiu Crisan, Ion Sapdaru, and Ioana Chitu, among excellent young actors. Inspired by Gabriel Andronache’s novel Ich bin ein Berliner, the famous quote from President J.F. Kennedy, the film follows the mishaps of a Romanian politician (Ion  Sapdaru) running for the European Parliament in hopes to escape charges of corruption once elected and given immunity. His car breaks down near a farm. He immediately sees the opportunity to make the villagers into his voters by adopting the façade of a commoner, the “old friend” of the farmer. Compromise doesn’t pay very well, but well enough for Viorel (Ovidiu Crisan). Filmed in Crisan’s native Salonta, under the mater cinematographer Oleg Mutu, The Campaign / Berliner was nominated for several “Best Film” awards at international festivals and won the main competition at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2020. Crisan had previously won the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film with Megatron at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, he won the Special Jury Prize at the 63rd Edition of the Locarno Film Festival with his first feature film Morgen, which was also the Romanian entry for the 84th Academy Awards. 

Please note: this film program is available only to viewers in the United States.

A Zoom Q&A with director Marian Crișan will air on the ARCS Facebook page. In their confirmation email, ticket purchasers will receive a link to join the Zoom if they are interested in participating. The Q&A takes place Nov. 19 at 11am PT.