Short, documentary, 34 min, 2017

The heart of a metropolis beats in its neighborhoods. Five communities reveal the other New York. 

directed by Toma Peiu
cinematography by Shan Jin, Toma Peiu, Luiza Pârvu
editing and sound design by Luiza Pârvu
produced by Toma Peiu & Luiza Pârvu

Director's Statement

The civil society of the 21st century global city spend their everyday around neighborhood street corners, stores and public transit stops, outside the reach of mainstream media and show business. Rituals, routines and unexpected events woven into the fabric of the civilian experience reveal themselves to the attentive eye. Civilians is an exploration of life in the metropolis, framing everyday scenes in the streets of “the other New York”: a collection of communities whose specificity is challenged nowadays by advancing gentrification and changes in the city’s economic paradigm.

Two cooks prepare a tray of dim sum by a sidewalk window; mothers bid a long goodbye to their children, outside a parked school bus; a group of firefighters shop at a local supermarket; two elderly brothers sing in front of an audience for the first time; a father and son await the train home, the evening before Thanksgiving. In Civilians, a bricoleur looks at the public landscape and its inhabitants in melancholic “open window” frames unearthing the poetry hidden in the mundane of a contemporary American city, captured over one Thanksgiving week.

Produced by Root Films (Romania) and The New School University (USA)  

2017

Short, experimental, documentary, 7 min, 2016

A visualization of Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus, through the lens of surveillance cameras around the world.

directed by Luiza Pârvu & Toma Peiu
written by Toma Peiu
adapted from The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
editing & sound design by Luiza Pârvu
narration by Brett Stiller

Directors' Statement

Video surveillance has penetrated virtually every space inhabited by humans. Tragedies, excitement, catastrophes, moments of bliss and the everyday life of the common man are nowadays documented on an unprecedented scale. Countless hours are recorded daily in an endless narrative of the spectacle of human existence. The content is usually available to private eyes, and the universal meaning obscured by the apparent disconnect between the various individuals, spaces and activities recorded.

Made entirely out of surveillance footage available online, Sisyphus 2.0 is meant to mirror existentialist philosopher Albert Camus’ text, originally published in 1942, in present day’s reality. It is a bookmark we are trying to place, in an attempt to capture the particular mark of a certain moment in the evolution of the post-industrial era, doing our best not to obscure the timeless, tireless and resilient nature of the manifestations of the human spirit. 
 

Produced by Root Films (Romania) & NYU Tisch School of the Arts (USA)

2016

Short, documentary, experimental, 4 min, 2016

Arabidopsis thaliana juxtaposes the implications of injury, development and regeneration for plants, humans and cities, with a nod to one of the most popular plant model organisms in biology and genetics.

written & directed by Toma Peiu & Nicholas DelRose
narrated by Selima Smith-Dell
cinematography by Toma Peiu & Luiza Pârvu
microscope imagery & graphics by Nicholas DelRose
editing & sound design by Luiza Pârvu
location sound by Toma Peiu
produced by Nicholas DelRose, Toma Peiu, Luiza Pârvu

Research of Dr. Kenneth Birnbaum’s Lab

A Root Films production, for the Symbiosis Film Competition - Imagine Science Film Festival

2016

Short, fiction, 23 min, 2014

A short narrative film telling a story from a forgotten generation of Romanian US immigrants. 

Pennsylvania, 1908. Romanian immigrant cobbler Petru greets his cousin's wife Ana in their New World home, with silent affection. Before he wins her heart, however, he needs to break a piece of news that will change her for good.

directed by Luiza Pârvu
written by Toma Peiu
cinematography by Shan Jin
production design by Lulu Petrescu, Adriana Răcășan, Erin Vassilopoulos
edited by Luiza Pârvu, Tudor D. Popescu
sound design by Laura Lăzărescu-Thois
composer Grigore Leșe
producers Toma Peiu, Luiza Pârvu, Adriana Răcășan, Andras Muhi, Gabor Ferenczy, Mihai Penișoară 

Cast: 
Florin Penișoară – Petru
Olimpia Melinte – Ana
Ioan Ardelean – Wojnarowski

Root Films (RO) / Focus Fox (HU) / Penproduction.ro (RO) / DaKino Productions (RO) / NYU Tisch (US) 

Romania – Hungary – USA, 2014

Short, fiction, 14 min, 2014

Teenager Alma visits the abandoned house of her late grandparents, in search for an answer to a complicated question.

directed by Luiza Pârvu
written by Luiza Pârvu, Toma Peiu
cinematography by Eduard Pârvu
location sound by Toma Peiu
editing & sound design by Răzvan Ilinca
production design by Luiza Pârvu, Toma Peiu
executive producers Eduard Pârvu, Luiza Pârvu, Toma Peiu

Introducing
Andreea Diaconița – Alma

Produced by UNATC “I.L. Caragiale” Bucharest

2014

Short, fiction, 12 min, 2014

A homeless young woman accidentally breaks into a lone man's house, unwillingly becoming part of an unexpected personal quest with a twist, engineered by an unseen friend.

directed by Luiza Pârvu
written by Toma Peiu, Luiza Pârvu
cinematography by James K. Ferguson
production design by Luiza Pârvu, Toma Peiu
edited by Luiza Pârvu
sound design by Luiza Pârvu
executive producers Toma Peiu, Luiza Pârvu 

CAST
Jessica Mermelstein – Annie
Jesse Goldberger - Larry

Produced by Root Films (Romania) & NYU Tisch School of the Arts (USA)

2014

Short, fiction, 19 min, 2013

Security guard Iulia, interior decorator Andi and English language teacher Ana are bound by a series of decisions that could change their lives forever. Each of them depends on the others' actions. Each one of them gets to care for and needs to be taken care of. Transparent windows are not necessarily see-through.

directed by Luiza Pârvu
written by Toma Peiu
cinematography by Andrei Goagă
production design by Lulu Petrescu
edited by Letiţia Ştefănescu
sound design by Laura Lăzărescu
composer Francesco Agnello
executive producer Gabi Suciu

Cast:

Rodica Lazăr – Iulia
Cristian Popa – Andi
Olimpia Melinte – Ana
Valentin Bărbătei – Vali
Delia Matei – Delia
Lucia Maier – Lucia

Produced by UNATC "I.L. Caragiale", Bucharest, Romania

2013

Short, fiction, 24 min, 2011

Two young actors, Olimpia and Edi, meet in an Irish Pub downtown Bucharest and start rehearsing for their next short film. Waiting for the director, who never shows up, they walk around the shooting locations. While discovering their characters and talking about how they would like the movie to end, they discover themselves and the complicated feelings that they experience.

written & directed by Luiza Pârvu
co-written by Toma Peiu
cinematography by Mihai Marius Apopei
edited by Letitia Stefanescu

Cast:
Olimpia Melinte - Olimpia / Ina
Eduard Jighirgiu - Edi / Marius

Produced by UNATC "I.L. Caragiale" Bucharest

2011

Short, fiction, 16 min, 2010

Adina tries to make a birthday for herself, but this is no easy task for a lonely bus ticket saleswoman, living alone in the old apartment of her late parents. She eventually finds an unusual way of spending the day, when she decides to call a professional party entertainer agency.

directed by Luiza Pârvu
written by Luiza Pârvu, Toma Peiu
cinematography by Andrei Goagă
edited by Letiția Ștefănescu
sound design by Tudor D. Popescu, Tudor Calnegru
production design by Ana Cântabine
trailer theme song by Mihai Dobre, Alex Pop
 

Cast
Adina Lucaciu - Adina
Dan Badea - Dan
Sergiu Costache - Salesman
Gabriel Spahiu - Mircea (Voice)

Produced by UNATC "I.L. Caragiale" Bucharest

2010