{{ mainName }}

{{ newsTitle }} {{ newsVisible ? '✦' : '✧'}}

    • New Talents Open Call
      Eastern Neighbours Film Festival (ENFF) began in The Netherlands in 2008 with the idea to offer Dutch and international audiences a unique glimpse into the cinema of their neighbors from Eastern and Southern Europe. This annual event presents the most recent, exciting, and thought‐provoking films, from countries with small, but often powerful film industries, that… Read more: New Talents Open Call
    • ENFF 2023 On Demand!
      Unable To attend the festival in person? No problem! From November 27th to December 3rd, we’re thrilled to bring you a curated selection of this year’s films available for online viewing! Catch our captivating Opening Film Ivan’s Land, or the touching Closing Film Seventh Heaven. Or explore a collection of shorts from the New Talents Competition! Follow along… Read more: ENFF 2023 On Demand!
    • What’s up in Slovak Cinema? A conversation with Monika Lostakova
      We talked with Monika Lošťáková about contemporary Slovak cinema.
    • ENFF and the Eastern European Film Festival Network!
      The Eastern European Film Festival Network brings together five film festivals dedicated to promoting and showcasing Eastern European cinema, alongside one partner organisation.
    • Masterclasses
      Through these masterclasses we approach two memory in film from different angles: memories from a personal or collective recollection through archive material.
    • Work in Progress
      In Work in Progress, emerging filmmakers and artists will present their works in development to the audience and engage in discussions with Dutch experts.
    • Festival Timetable Available!
    • Check out the catalogue for our 2023 edition!
    • Music at ENFF
      Every year, ENFF brings special musical guests who bring beauty to the program and further represent the rich cultures of their countries to a Dutch audience.
    • Film Marathon
      Join us for the Film Marathon, a new concept in which we merge two components, Short Films, Big Stories, and New Talents Competition into a whole-day screening of short films!

Songs From the Backyard

The film depicts glimpses from a penitentiary center, seen from the eyes of Gheorghita, an honest, hard-working inmate, who’s spirit is kept alive by the promise of returning back to his family.

Synopsis

Shot in a cinéma verité style, a group of students make a film in Botosani penitentiary. They start to follow Gheorghita, a worker from the kitchen. He is working hard to gain the trust of the guards and to blend in with his fellow inmates. As the students get closer to him, they realise how the environment ends up shaping the identity of the individual.

CANTECE DIN CURTEA DIN SPATE

Romania | 2022 | 27 min

DIRECTOR / EDITING: Letitia Popa

PRODUCTION: UNATC, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jan Phillip Ernsting

SOUND: Iulian Cristian Nunu, Lisa Wischer

SCREENING: Friday 25 November / 15:00h / Zaal 4 & Sunday 27 November / 11:00h / Zaal 5

The screening on Sunday 27th will be followed by a Q&A with the director Letitia Popa. Dutch Premiere

Director’s statement

My film was developed through the filmic field research, “With the head through the wall”, in collaboration between National University of Theatre and Film I.L. Caragiale and Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf in Botosani Petitionary, North of Romania. The film has never had a complete form up until this year, when I felt the impulse to finish a story that has never fairly received an ending. The events of the film have sat with me 4 years after the happenings in Botosani. Up to this day, I am aware that what has happened back then has changed the way I see filmmaking and the way I relate to the world. I chose Gheorghita as our main protagonist after a long prospecting stage. He seemed to stand out compared to all the others. Slowly, we learned many things about him, his regrets and his desires. We easily connected to him and his urge to tell his story, and most importantly, we were very touched by what we were witnessing. To this day, he still didn’t return back to that world and he seems to be on the process of rehabilitation, creating a normal life for himself and his family.

Director’s bio

Letitia Popa is a film director based in Bucharest, Romania. She is an alumnus of National University of Theatre and Film I.L. Caragiale, with a Bachelor’s degree in Film and TV Directing, and a Master’s in Documentary Directing. During 2020-2021, she participated in a one-year exchange program in Belgium, at Kask and Conservatory / School of Arts Gent, working on her Master project. Letitia’s films explore small and intimate daily life universes, with a specific attentiveness to the inward.

Festivals & Awards (selection)

Saratov Sufferings International Film Festival, 2022