BUCHAREST: Romanian writer/director Mihai Mincan is currently in production with his sophomore feature Milk Teeth / Dinți de lapte. This 2.3 m EUR coproduction between Romania, France, Denmark, Greece and Bulgaria is supported by the Romanian Film Centre, the Bulgarian National Film Center, Aide aux cinémas du monde (ACM), Danish Film Institute (DFI), among many others.
As the last person to see her sister before she disappears, Maria (8) finds herself trapped in a world of deceit. Consumed by the loss, she takes it upon herself to find out what really happened, navigating through a universe of muted confusion, in the twilight of the Communist era. As Maria starts feeling that she is getting closer to uncovering the truth, a strange world opens up, threatening to take control of her. The only way to fight against it is to rely on her friends and imagination.
“The decision to work on Milk Teeth is rooted in both the story’s artistic potential and the trusted collaboration we’ve built with the director over the years, starting working on it in 2020 while producing Mihai’s debut feature, To the North. Milk Teeth serves as a powerful allegory of Romania’s transition from the Communist era to the hope of a new society after 1989. By representing darkness and void as visual symbolic elements, the film portrays the uncertainty and fear experienced during this period. Maria’s quest for truth mirrors the nation’s desire for justice and accountability. She represents the generation that seeks empowerment, and change becomes vital in a time and place that finally show glimpses of prospects of a free world,” producer Radu Stancu told FNE.
Radu Stancu is producing with Ioana Lascăr through Romania’s deFilm in coproduction with Cyriac Auriol through France’s Remora Films, Monica Hellström through Danish Strom Pictures, Konstantinos Vassilaros through Greece’s StudioBauhaus and Pavlina Angelova through Bulgaria’s Screening Emotions.
The 2.3 m EUR coproduction is backed by the Romanian Film Centre, the Romanian Office for Film and Cultural Investments (OFIC), the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (France), the Danish Film Institute, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Greek Film Centre, Media Investment Communication (Romania), ARTE Kino, Avanpost (Romania), Creative Europe MEDIA, ERT Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, Cinema City (Romania), the Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (SACEM) and Agence Nationale de Gestion des Œuvres Audiovisuelles (ANGOA).
The project was developed at the Torino Film Lab – Feature Lab 2023 programme, where it received the grand TFL Production Award and the Green Filming Award.
The shooting is currently taking place in Romania, at Lupeni and Vulcan (Hunedoara county), in Bucharest and also at the Buftea Studios.
The approximately 30 shooting days are scheduled from 7 October to 13 November 2024.
The premiere of the film is set for mid-2025.
Mihai Mincan’s debut feature To the North / Spre nord had its world premiere in the Orizzonti competition at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in 2022. On 28 October 2024, the film received the Grand Prize and the Trophy of the Romanian Filmmakers Union (UCIN), along with awards for script (Mihai Mincan), actor (Niko Becker), editor (Dragos Apetri) and soundtrack (Nicolas Becker, Cyril Holtz, Benjamin Laurent).
At the Gopo Awards gala held at the end of April 2024, To the North received accolades for best debut film, best cinematography (George Chiper-Lillemark) and best newcomer – actor Niko Becker) out of 13 nods.
To the North is a coproduction between Romania, France, Greece, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, produced by deFilm, and coproduced by Remora Films, StudioBauhaus, Screening Emotions, Background Films, with support from the Romanian Film Centre, the Bulgarian National Film Center and the Czech Film Center.
Production Information:
Producer:
deFilm (Romania)
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Coproducers:
Remora Films (France)
Strom Pictures (Denmark)
StudioBauhaus (Greece)
Screening Emotions (Bulgaria)
Credits:
Director: Mihai Mincan
Scriptwriter: Mihai Mincan
DoP: George Chiper-Lillemark
Editor: Dragoș Apetri
Sound: Frederic Dabo, Nicolas Becker, Benjamin Laurent
Set designer: Anamaria Țecu
Costume designer: Dana Pǎpǎruz
Cast: Emma Mogoș, Marina Palii, Igor Babiac, Istvan Teglas, Ada Lupu, Cătălin Filip, Mihaela Rădescu, Liana Mărgineanu, Tudor Morar