CHUCK NORRIS VS. COMMUNISM

Communist Romania – 1980s. Culturally isolated, ideologically censored; all images of life outside the Iron Curtain are cut off and TV is reduced to a couple of hours of propaganda bulletins each day. From the drab concrete housing blocks to the food ration queues, an overwhelming fear of state surveillance had prevented the people from stepping out of line. But there was one window into the free world available to anyone who dared to look.

In the mid-1980s, thousands of Hollywood films were smuggled into the country through a well-oiled operation that swelled and swelled until it reached millions across Romania. The films were dubbed by one courageous female translator whose distinct voice captivated the whole nation and became a symbol of freedom.

The fearless stories of action heroes like Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme captured every child’s imagination, but it was the lavish settings and backdrops that mesmerised this unique audience. For the first time, people saw what had been denied to them: supermarkets stacked full of food, the trappings of wealth, the latest fashions, supercars, and most of all, freedom.

linca Calugareanu is a London-based Romanian documentary filmmaker. She studied documentary filmmaking at Manchester’s Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology. Her short films have been screened in festivals around the world. Calugareanu’s credits include THE WRITING ON THE WALL (2006, Romania) and ENDGAMES (2008, UK), distributed by the Royal Anthropological Institute. She has also been working as an editor for fiction and documentary shorts and features for the past 5 years. She has a background in anthropology with a focus on communist and post-communist Romania, which gives her a unique perspective on the story of the VHS phenomenon.

Director
Ilinca Calugareanu

Cinematography
Jose Ruiz

Editor
Per K. Kirkegaard

Music
Anne Nikitin
Rob Manning

Producer
Brett Ratner
Mara Adina

Co-Producer
Stefan Kloos
Monica Lãzurean-Gorgan
Abbas Nokhasteh

Executive Producer
Nicole Stott
John Battsek
Dan Cogan
James Packer
Jenny Raskin
Andrew Ruhemann

Production
Vernon Films Production in collaboration with Passion Pictures
Ratpac Documentary Films & Impact Partners

Co-Production
Kloos & Co. Medien & WDR in collaboration with ARTE
HBO Romania
Openvizor
4 Proof Film

World Premiere
Sundance Film Festival 2015, USA

Further Festivals (Selection)
Hot Docs International Documentary Festival 2015, Toronto, Canada
Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015, UK
Los Angeles Film Festival 2015, USA
Stockholm International Film Festival 2015, Sweden
Seattle International Film Festival 2015, USA
Nantucket Film Festival 2015, USA