News Stories

In the economy of the newsreel, the use of synchronized sound to capture someone speaking was typically a sign of the importance assigned to them or the larger themes they were engaging with. This is the case in the frustratingly short interview recorded with Ștefan Neațu: a teacher from the commune of Slobozia-Mândra, and the grandson of Florea Neațu- one of the leaders of the 1907 Peasant Revolt. The teacher shares some details about the events leading up to the revolt, but unfortunately, his monologue is abruptly cut short. The testimony of Stan Stăncila, a former participant in the uprising, is entirely taken over by the voice of the newsreel commentator, who adds a typical political conclusion.

Despite the brevity (likely imposed due to the newsreel’s time constraints), the report is lively—especially when we catch a fleeting glimpse of the newsreel crew approaching Iepure’s (water) Well, as mentioned by the teacher. This moment leaves the viewer wishing for a more substantial recording that could have captured the voices of these last witnesses to the dramatic events of 1907.

The second part of the subject presented here is even shorter, and features brief footage from the premiere of Dacii (The Dacians) in Iași. This Romanian-French co-production marked the feature film debut of Sergiu Nicolaescu and was based on a script by Titus Popovici. The film was part of what film historians refer to as the “national epic,” a trend that began a few years earlier with the film Tudor (Lucian Bratu, 1962). With its impressive acting and production quality, Dacii became a major success in its time, and even after its re-release in 2001, it continued to captivate audiences. However, historians have cautioned that the film’s mystifying, nationalistic narrative – inspired by the official history of the time – tends to skew historical events, a characteristic shared with other films of the same era.