Uppercase Print (NR)

synopsis

In 1981, chalk slogans written in uppercase letters started appearing in public spaces in the Romanian city of Botosani. They demanded freedom, alluded to the democratic developments taking place in Romania's socialist sister countries or simply called for improvements in the food supply. The culprit was Mugur Calinescu, a teenager who was still at school at the time and whose case is documented in the files of the Romanian secret police. Theatre director Gianina Carbunariu created a documentary play based on this material. Besides presenting the play, Radu Jude also uses archival footage from Romanian TV of the era to create an image of a dictatorial surveillance state, drawing on the authorized popular entertainment of the Ceau?escu regime in order to unmask it.