Angel Back, a film made by a Moldovan filmmaker, was awarded as the best short film screened yesterday at Chicago Paracon Film Festival, which runs since 7 years now. The event featured 22 paranormal films, supernatural, ghostly topics by talented filmmakers all over USA.
The synopsis describes the film as dramatical, sentimental and provoking a dilemma in the life of an old woman who recovers her painful past of losing her fiancee in a tragic accident. Their connection becomes strong even after death, because her lover comes back to protect the lady. Marina tries to get in touch with him and an image shows how exactly he felt into an accident. Marina’s mother goes against marrying Alex because they come from various religious backgrounds and the young guy is not trustworthy enough.
The film lasting just for 6.45 minutes renders the story of Alex and Marina, two young lovers who decide to unite their hearts, despite the fact that parents are against this decision. Alex decides to leave in search of a better jobs.
The filmmaker, Natalia Ghilascu says that the film portraits the relationship of two young people who love each other, but can not be together because parents are against it due to welfare state. She says that the film production took more than a month, and has worked extensively with actors from Moldova, Romania, USA who voluntarily got involved in the film project.
Although it was produced with a very limited budget, it was nominated in January 2016 for the International Film Festival of Los Angeles for the “Best Short Film” and competed with other films nominated in this category.
“The idea of the film is inspired by the life of a woman from Moldova, of the Jewish origin, who lost her boyfriend in an accident before officially uniting their hearts. The film also draws attention to traditional family values, resistance from parents regarding life choices and suffering for an unfulfilled love, “notes the press release Natalia Ghilaşcu.
The screening of the film was also possible in the same date, on December 4th at Odeon movie theater in Moldova at a Human Rights Film Festival. Angel Back was screened at various festivals in USA, Miami Independent Film Festival, Los Angeles International Film Festival (LAIFFA), Los Angeles Cinema Festival, Indie Film Festival.
Natalia Ghilascu is a Moldovan journalist promoting human rights and non-discrimination short documentaries. Her first documentary film, “Exile from Bessarabia” about Roma Holocaust in Romania was awarded at International CRONOGRAF Film Festival in 2013 in Chisinau, Moldova. The new story the filmmaker is working now is another documentary film “Cursed Years in Transnistria“, a film about Jews from Soviet Union who escaped the Holocaust in USA.
