The film’s Oscar and BAFTA nominations will mean more people get to know about the Romanian corruption scandal, the filmmaker says.
The parents of one of the victims of the nightclub fire featured in the Romanian documentary “Collective” have spoken of their hope that the film’s Oscar and BAFTA nominations will mean more people know about the scandal, its director Alexander Nanau tells Variety. “They posted a message on Facebook to their son saying: ‘We failed to help you at that time, but we’re so glad that the whole world will see the story, and all we want is that other people understand how things work, and that they will not have to go through the same thing,” he says. The film followed a team of investigative journalists as they tried to find out why so many people died in hospital following the fire, which led them to uncover widespread corruption within the healthcare system. When the Minister of Health resigned, Nanau’s team shadowed Vlad Voiculescu, an activist for patients’ rights, who became the new minister, as he tried to reform the system from within. The film, which competes in the International Feature Film and Documentary Feature categories of the Oscars, and in the Documentary section at the BAFTAs, is distributed by Magnolia Pictures and Participant in the U.S., and by Dogwoof in the U.K. and Ireland. Nanau hopes the film inspires people around the world to fight similar battles to those documented in his film. “The film resonated around the world with so many people,” he says. “There’s a story from Mongolia, for example. The journalists were afraid there because the parliament tried to bring in a law that [said] if they defame the country, they can be busted for it. So they saw [the film], and two days later a journalist started to investigate how COVID patients were treated, and then journalists started to encourage each other on social media, saying things such as, ‘Yes, we have to do it like the journalists in ‘Collective.’ ’ And miraculously, they brought down the Minister of Health and two days later, they brought down the whole government. So, it really seems to have hit a nerve, and [met] a need.” It also addresses a fear that many have had over the past few years that democracy has been taken for granted, and reminded them it has to be defended, he says. Christine Vachon, the producer of award-winning films like “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Carol,” has been helping support the film’s awards campaign. The fact that Nanau was operating the camera as well as directing added to its strength, she says. “The intimacy that brought to the characters and the subjects was something I found incredibly compelling.” She adds: “To find this story, and be able to sculpt it so beautifully narratively I find nothing short of miraculous and that’s part of the reason I admire the movie so much.” Many Oscar voters in the U.S. haven’t been able to see the nominated films collectively in theaters due to the pandemic, so conversations about them have been more difficult to have. Nevertheless, she says, “I feel like ‘Collective’ has managed to be one of those films that has sparked those kinds of conversations in the ether in other ways. I feel like the ways in which it explores all those layers of conspiracy and duplicity, and this notion that there are people who do the right thing resonates very, very much, especially at this point in particular, as America is at a new crossroads.” Documentary filmmaking has been going through a golden period recently, but even so “Collective” stand apart, she says. “This one is sort of in a class by itself, I think, but yeah, right now, there’s been a real explosion of interest in documentaries. I think it’s partly that we’re all trying to broaden the kinds of experiences we can have in our living rooms. But also, the craft of documentary has just become truly exceptional in the past couple of years. I’m not quite sure what to attribute that to, but I think it’s really noticeable.” What qualities does she look for in a documentary? “I think it’s the same things I look for in a narrative feature, which is a great story well told. In some ways, documentarians almost have a more difficult task, because they have to delve into the characters that they’re dealt, and the events that are given to them, as opposed to narrative filmmakers, who have a certain amount of license. So, again, I think that Alex’s ability to find that intimacy with his characters, to find that intimacy with the story, and still inject that sense of urgency… it’s just extraordinary craftsmanship.
