Monica Bîrlădeanu

Tre premi al Festival di Tirana per "Maternity Blues"

roxtaz — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:27:32 +0000

Publisher:

CinemaItaliano.com

"Maternity Blues" di Fabrizio Cattani ha vinto il premio del pubblico ed il premio on-line come migliore lungometraggio alla nona edizione del Tirana International Film Festival, che si è svolta dal 5 al 10 dicembre 2011 in Albania.

Premiata come migliore attrice Monica Birladeanu, che nel film di Cattani interpreta il ruolo di Eloisa. Questa la motivazione della giuria: "per l’interpretazione convincente ed efficace di un personaggio complesso e controverso".

Simone Pinchiorri

Source:

Tre premi al Festival di Tirana per "Maternity Blues"

Monica Bârlădeanu, în drama italiană "Maternity Blues", selectată la Festivalul de la Veneţia - VIDEO

roxtaz — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:03:28 +0000

Publisher:

MEDIAFAX

Actriţa română Monica Bârlădeanu este una dintre protagonistele peliculei italiene "Maternity Blues", de Fabrizio Cattani, o dramă ce spune povestea a patru femei care şi-au omorât copiii, selectată în secţiunea competiţională Controcampo italiano a Festivalului de la Veneţia.
Filmul "Maternity Blues/ Il bene dal male" spune povestea a patru femei diferite, însă legate de o culpă comună: infanticidul. Ele sunt internate împreună şi trăiesc o "condamnare mai ales interioară", legându-şi fiecare propria culpă de cea a alteia, se împrietenesc, îşi fac confidenţe şi se consolează, apărând într-o lumină de "vinovate inocente", potrivit cinemaitaliano.info.

Pelicula are la bază cartea Graziei Verasani - "From Medea". "Este o poveste emoţionantă. Sunt patru femei care au sentinţe finale şi definitive, sunt declarate instabile. Este motivul pentru care ele se află internate în secţia psihiatrică a unei închisori. Sunt acuzate din infanticid şi au fost declarate mai puţin în deplinătatea capacităţilor lor mintale", a detaliat pentru MEDIAFAX Monica Bârlădeanu povestea care stă la baza filmului "Maternity Blues".

Personajul interpretat de Monica Bârlădeanu în "Maternity Blues" este Eloisa, o femeie pasională şi directă, gata oricând să polemizeze cu celelalte, afişând un cinism de faţadă.

"Este unul din rolurile la care ţin foarte mult. Eloisa este o fostă cântăreaţă de muzică uşoară italiană, care se regăseşte în secţia psihiatrică a închisorii. A fost un proiect destul de solicitant emoţional, pentru că a trebuit să acceptăm anumite lucruri, să empatizăm cu subiectul şi să luptăm cu propriile prejudecăţi", a precizat Monica Bârlădeanu, caracterizând "Maternity Blues" ca fiind "un proiect intens".

Filmările pentru "Maternity Blues" s-au desfăşurat în mare parte în Toscana. "Am filmat în Toscana anul trecut, timp de o lună şi jumătate, până la sfârşitul lunii octombrie", a spus Monica Bârlădeanu, precizând că pentru a fi redată secţia psihiatrică a închisorii a fost folosită o veche pensiune. "Am folosit şi un spaţiu vechi al fabricilor Fiat, care este absolut spectaculos", a mai spus actriţa, explicând că "Maternity Blues" s-a filmat câteva zile şi la Roma.

Filmul "Maternity Blues" va fi lansat şi în România şi în Italia, cel mai probabil anul acesta, însă nu a fost stabilită cu exactitate data lansărilor, a mai spus Monica Bârlădeanu.

Monica Bârlădeanu este model şi actriţă, iar cariera ei include apariţii în producţii internaţionale, precum serialul american de succes "Lost" sau comedia "Buds for Life", şi roluri în filme româneşti, precum "Moartea domnului Lăzărescu", în regia lui Cristi Puiu.

Totodată, Monica Bârlădeanu a fost protagonista filmului "Francesca", debutul regizoral al lui Bobby Păunescu, ce a avut premiera în competiţia Orizzonti a Festivalului de la Veneţia din 2009. Actriţa a mai jucat şi în pelicula "Vallanzasca - Gli angeli del male", în regia lui Michele Placido, care a avut premiera tot la Veneţia, anul trecut.

De asemenea, în prezent, Monica Bârlădeanu filmează la "Diaz", în regia lui Daniele Vicari, iar începând cu sfârşitul lunii octombrie actriţa va fi implicată în proiectul cinematografic "Itaker", al cunoscutului cineast Michele Placido. "Vor urma alte două proiecte, la sfârşitul lui august şi la sfârşitul lui octombrie, dar încă nu pot să le fac publice", a mai spus Monica Bârlădeanu.

Fabrizio Cattani a mai regizat comedia "Quelle piccole cose" (2002), ce prezintă călătoria a patru prietene, împărţită între droguri, nebunie şi prietenie, şi drama "Il rabdomante" (2007).

Cea de-a 68-a ediţie a Festivalului Internaţional de Film de la Veneţia se va desfăşura între 31 august - 10 septembrie. Cele mai recente filme semnate de Roman Polanski, David Cronenberg, Marjane Satrapi şi George Clooney au fost selectate în competiţia oficială a Mostrei, a cărei selecţie oficială a fost anunţată joi.

Source:

Mediafax.ro

Highlights of the 66 th Venice Film Festival

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:32:45 +0000

Publisher:

Film-forward.com

September 18, 2009

Director Bobby Paunescu made a strong debut with Francesca, which stylistically follows suit with other recent Romanian indies, with scenes composed of one single take lasting for several minutes and a camera that minimally moves. But unlike so many films that use this real-time approach, you forget the presence of Paunescu's camera, mostly because of the direct story line and the strong cast.

Monica Birladeanu in FRANCESCA (Photo: Venice Film Festival)

Its heroine, 30-year-old Francesca (Monica Birladeanu), has saved 2,000 euros to pay a middle man for a caretaking job near Milan. Her boyfriend reassures her that it's the best decision she could make to get the hell out of the country and start a new life. What he doesn't tell her is that he owes an excessive amount of money to loan sharks. (And there's an additional secret that only he and the audience are privy to.)

Filmed entirely in Romania, the film's real villain is anti-immigrant Italy. Over and over again, Francesca is warned that she could be treated as a slave, or worse, forced into prostitution, if she immigrates there. The cutting barbs directed at Italian right-winger Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of Il Duce, and the mayor of Verona, who declared his city free of Romanians, received cheers from the well-attended audience.

After the director has laid out Francesa's dilemma, the film drags a bit before it reaches its resolution. However, Francesca is an exceptional example of a feature film that has the narrative freedom to depict a social issue more viscerally and concretely than a documentary, as in the case with another film at the festival, Il Colore delle Parole (The Color of Words), an amicable and saintly profile of a Cameroon-born poet and teacher who has lived in Italy for 35 years. The film generally describes the Italian resistance to its growing nonwhite population.

Source:

Film-forward.com

Francesca (Romania) - review by Variety.com

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:24:31 +0000

Publisher:

Variety.com

A Mandragora Movies production. (International sales: Mandragora, Bucharest.) Produced by Bobby Paunescu, Cristi Puiu. Executive producer, Anca Puiu. Directed, written by Bobby Paunescu.
With: Monica Birladeanu, Dorian Boguta, Luminita Gheorghiu, Teodor Corban, Doru Ana, Dana Dogaru, Mihai Dorobantu, Dan Chiriac, Isabela Neamtu, Ion Sapdaru, Ion Besoiu.
Bobby Paunescu, producing partner of Cristi Puiu ("The Death of Mr. Lazarescu"), makes an intriguing debut as feature director with "Francesca," an immigrationyarn given substance by its blackly comic view of the characters and an involving perf as the titular wannabe emigree by Monica Birladeanu. Pic is largely festival and cable fare, with occasional arthouse dates in Europe likely.
Most of the script's quiet humor trades on tensions between Romania and Italy, where more than 1 million Romanians reside and some politicians have made strident anti-Romanian pronouncements following violence by immigrants. (One politico, Alessandra Mussolini, who's named in the movie, threatened to take out a lawsuit at the time of the pic's Venice screening.)
Francesca (Birladeanu) is a 30-year-old kindergarten teacher who lives with her mother, Ana (Luminita Gheorghiu), and idealistically dreams of setting up a kids' school in Rome to improve Romanians' image in Italy. Her relationship with longtime b.f. Mita (Dorian Boguta) is going nowhere, but she still vacillates over the move as one after another friend or relative gives her advice.
The basic joke is that, though many Romanians think Italians are only a cut above uncivilized, they consider each other equally duplicitous. But Francesca is still in thrall of the post-communist dream that a better life is to be lived elsewhere, preferably in West Europe.
One of her friends, Maria (Isabela Neamtu), introduces her to a black marketeer, Pandele (Ion Sapdaru), who promises Francesca a job as a nurse to an old invalid near Milan. The deal, which involves her leaving almost immediately, has a bad smell: Francesca's father, Ion (Teodor Corban), is against it, but her mother and Mita encourage her to go. Mita says he'll join her soon, as soon as he's finished a deal he's working on, but his monetary problems conspire to prove a further drag on her plans.
Working with several cast members from "Lazarescu" (Birladeanu, Gheorghiu, Boguta), Paunescu draws simpatico performances from his players, despite often long takes from a fixed camera that pans back and forth between protags in a scene. The curiously clunky visual style -- clearly deliberate -- almost gives the film the flavor of a 35mm homemovie, though one that is always well lit, in both interiors and exteriors.
Offbeat style is also part and parcel of the movie's black humor, including a sequence between Francesca and her money-lending godfather that's almost surreal, and another in which Francesca and Ana are visited by a quietly menacing thug (Mihai Dorobantu) who's looking for Mita.
With not a great deal happening plotwise, it's in such grace notes that the appeal of the film lies. With a less skillful cast, the offbeat mixture wouldn't work -- and the pic could still use some trims: A far too long scene of Mita recounting his money problems to Francesca is one obvious candidate.

Camera (color), Andrei Butica; editor, Ioachim Stroe; music, Petru Birladeanu; art director, Mihai Dorobantu; costume designers, Mirela Fraser, Monica Florescu; sound (Dolby Digital), Mirel Cristea, Sebastian Zsemlye, Alexandru Dragomir; assistant director, Mariuca Petre. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Horizons), Sept. 3, 2009. Running time: 97 MIN. (Romanian, Russian dialogue)
By DEREK ELLEY
Posted: Sat., Sep. 19, 2009, 4:55pm PT; Variety.com
Venice

Source:

Variety.com

Monica Dean will star in the movie Fall Down Dead

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:13:28 +0000

Publisher:

monicadean.info

Monica Dean will join David Carradine and Dominique Swain for the movie "Fall Down Dead", directed by Jon Keeyes.

The story focuses on Christie Wallace (Dominique Swain), a woman who becomes the target of the Picasso Killer; a serial killer who uses his victims as the canvas for his macabre art. One night, in the middle of a blackout, seven strangers become trapped in an office, struggling for survival, as the Picasso Killer hunts through the building for Christie Wallace, the woman that can identify him.

Monica Dean plays the role of Helen and filming begins on August in North Carolina.

Fall Down Dead is produced by New Films International and Jon Keeyes production company, Highland Myst Cinema Group.

Monica Dean to star in Nip/Tuck, season 4

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:06:14 +0000

Publisher:

FX Networks

"The deeply superficial series returns!"
Monica Dean will be a guest star in the second episode of the 4th season, playing the role of femme fatale Jennifer.
Season four of Nip/Tuck begins on September 5th with a hefty list of celebrity guests: Larry Hagman, Brooke Shields, Catherine Deneuve, Richard Chamberlain, Kathleen Turner and Jacqueline Bisset.
Nip/Tuck is a disturbingly perfect drama set in a south Florida plastic surgery center, McNamara-Troy, centering around the two doctors who own it.
In 2004 Nip/Tuck was nominated for Best Television Series - Drama and in 2005 won the Golden Globe Award for best US television drama.
Nip/Tuck was created by Ryan Murphy and premiered in July of 2003 on the FX Networks.

Source:

Nip/Tuck

Interview Magazine - Monica Dean by Brandan Lemon

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:02:27 +0000

Publisher:

Interview

"...We don`t really do small talk in Romania," says actress Monica Dean; this is a charmingly odd admission from a woman who made her name as the host of a lighthearted chat show back in Bucharest. Now based in Los Angeles, the 27-year-old is known to American audiences as Gabriela, a wealthy woman who exchanged a kiss with Matthew Fox`s Jack on an episode of Lost...

INTERVIEW is the ultimate pop culture magazine. Created in 1969 by pop art pioneer Andy Warhol, INTERVIEW takes its readers on an extraordinary journey through brave new worlds in film, fashion, music, art and more. An exciting mixture of fame and discovery, glamour and intellect, INTERVIEW has its finger on the pulse of what's happening at the moment. INTERVIEW brings readers the uncut truth, straight from the cutting edge.

Monica Dean, present in the successful Romanian women TOP 100 published by Capital magazine, the 2006 edition

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:53:28 +0000

Publisher:

Capital

Her latest performance at Hollywood has led Monica Bîrlădeanu in the top 100 successful women. Monica Dean has been nominated by the Capital magazine for the "Top of Romanian 100 successful women", as a model of young accomplishment.
In this year's edition of the "Top 100 of successful Romanian women", Romanian women who met with success abroad entered into direct competition with those who were successful in Romania. The top is dominated by businesswomen, followed by women physicians, artists, women from the world of fashion and beauty, media, sport, and women working for renowned international bodies.
"Capital" is the Best Financial Business Romanian-Swiss Magazine, also author of the Romanian "Fortune List of 300 Richest People in Romania".
Further details - on Capital website.

Source:

Capital.ro website

Monica Dean at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards Ceremony

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:36:53 +0000

Publisher:

Independent Spirit Awards website

The awards ceremony, organized by Film Independent, took place on March 4, in Santa Monica - California, where it celebrated the best of independent films.
Brokeback Mountain won the top prizes, sharing the spotlight with three other double-winners: Capote, Crash and Transamerica.
Monica Bîrlădeanu represented the movie "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" by Romanian director Cristi Puiu, nominated for Best Foreign Film. The winner of this category was "Paradise Now" of the director Hany Abu-Assad.
The Independent Spirit Awards are organized by Film Independent, a group of independent filmmakers, and winners are determined by the group's 9,000 members nationwide. The IFP Independent Spirit Awards are hosted annually on the Saturday before the Oscars, showcasing independent American and international cinema.
Details - on Independent Spirit Awards website

Source:

Independent Spirit Awards website

Monica Bîrlădeanu starring in Francesca

roxtaz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:27:32 +0000

Publisher:

Mandragora

Monica Bîrlădeanu is starring in "Francesca" a Romanian film written/directed by Bobby Paunescu that is opening the Orizzonti selection at Venice Film Festival in Sept 2009.
She plays Francesca, a young kindergarten teacher whose dream is to immigrate to Italy. Searching for a better life, Francesca is ready to face any obstacles, even the doubtfulness and the worries of the people close to her. The plan is that her boyfriend, Miță, should join her in Italy as soon as he finishes a small businesses he’s involved in. Things take an unfortunate turn, painful truths come to light and priorities change.

Source:

Mandragora website