‘Three Miles to the End of the World’
Romanian actor-turned-director Emanuel Pârvu showed in San Sebastian Fest his own second feature, Mikado, chosen for the New Directors showcase.
This week, he presents his third project as a director, Three Miles to the End of the World, in the CineLink Co-Production Market in Sarajevo, where his 2017 feature debut Meda or the Not So Bright Side of Things earned prizes for best director and actor.
Produced by his regular collaborator, Miruna Berescu of the FAMart Association, the film centers on a gay teenager trapped in a village in the Danube Delta. Ostracized by his local community but also his parents, he has no place to go. Literally.
Nowhere to Escape
There is nowhere to escape – you just end up at a seashore,” says Pârvu, referring to the titular “end of the world.”
“In the first part of the film, the kid gets beaten up and the family doesn’t know why. His father takes action, but then he finds out that someone in the village saw him kissing another boy. After that, everything changes.”
Driven by fear of shame
“Obsessed” with family relations, which he likes to explore in his work, Pârvu also focuses on small communities, still driven by fear of shame.
“Shame is a powerful tool in our society and I think we need to address it. If your husband beats you, don’t put on make-up and smile at your neighbors – go to the police. If women or people of different sexualities would speak out more, maybe the world would evolve,” he wonders, pointing out that religion also plays a part in such marginalization.
The Bucharest-born helmer has worked in theater and TV (“the biggest mistake of my life,” he says), and has appeared in Cristian Mungiu’s “Graduation” and Apetri’s “Unidentified.”
Inspired by True Story
He values naturalistic acting. Also because this time, he was inspired by a true story of a 16-year-old girl, raped in a Moldavian village by seven boys. Instead of seeking justice, her father made a financial deal with the perpetrators, allowing them to walk free.
“They attacked her because she was wearing a mini skirt – that was the argument. I am a father as well, my daughter is 11, and I can’t understand how you can accept money when someone hurts your child like that.
This is what happens in my film too. The boy’s father makes a similar arrangement,” he says, calling the story “the most violent” he has ever written.
“I was convinced that ‘Mikado’ will be my darkest! But in my new film, even the camera movements are aggressive, although everybody means well.
Usually, the main battle is between good and evil. But to me, the battle between good and good is even more interesting. I want to do good; you want to do good. So how come people are dying?”
