THE PITEȘTI EXPERIMENT (ROMANIA)

About the film:

Director Victoria Baltag will be present at the screening and will participate in a Q&A session with the audience after the film.

The Pitești Experiment, a feature film that provides an honest and original cinematic approach to a controversial period of recent Romanian history. The film is based on real events that occurred in the Pitesti prison between 1948 and 1952.

Described as ”the most terrible barbarity of the contemporary world” by Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and as ”one of the most terrible experiences of dehumanization our era has known” by historian François Furet, The Pitesti Experiment,  is a disturbing exploration of self-betrayal, faith, and a person’s origins. The story focuses on the life of a young man who goes from being a victim to one of the most formidable torturers of the communist regime due to his tragic fate.

While exploring themes of betrayal, the film also includes elements of love, friendship, and hope. It serves as a testament to those who suffered and a history lesson. The filmmakers’ vision is to use the film to educate the public about the past and learn from it to prevent such atrocities from happening again.

The film was a voluntary effort developed over a decade of work and trust. It was produced with considerable effort by a dedicated young team and is described as a ”unique and perhaps the most ambitious project” to date, being made with zero budget.

Victoria Baltag, the film’s director, spent over 12 years on the project and is the first independent director to create a feature film about the Pitesti phenomenon. It also features the final appearance of renowned actor Ion Caramitru (Zozimov in Mission: Impossible, 1996).