10/05/2022 - The head of the Romanian production company selected at this year’s Producers on the Move talks about the challenges of working in a small film industry, and dancing

It would be really hard to find a more “on the move” producer in Romania than Diana Păroiu, a close collaborator of the only Romanian producer with two Berlinale Golden Bears in her wide collection of awards, Ada Solomon. Besides working with Solomon’s microFILM, Păroiu dedicates her time to her own company, Visual Walkabout, with which she has been selected in this year’s Producers on the Move programme. Here is what the producer has to say about her vision and editorial line.

Cineuropa: Since 2014 you have been collaborating with Ada Solomon, perhaps the most important Romanian producer. Any particular useful lesson you learned from her?
Diana Păroiu: Ada is a powerhouse of a producer and I’ve learnt loads by working alongside her, yet perhaps one of the most valuable lessons has been this one – to have courage. Self-awareness and a healthy dose of resilience can take us a long way in our field. However, having courage and going the extra mile will take us even further. And when we have courage to take bold decisions, we have a shot at making a positive contribution within our field and for our audiences.

Besides working with Ada Solomon’s microFILM, you dedicate your time to your own company, Visual Walkabout. Can you describe the editorial line?
Visual Walkabout is dedicated to arthouse cinema and high-end series with topics and storytelling means that can meet wide audiences. The current slate consists of projects dealing with a variety of topics such as lasting love, toxic love, friendship, betrayal, discrimination, morality, family, parent-children bonds, LGBT issues. I pick subjects that preoccupy me only if the authors’ perspectives on those subjects manage to strike me as unique, relevant in the current socio-political-cultural climate and are coming from strong motivations and doubled by great sensitivity. My projects, my visual walkabouts, if I may, are more often than not driven from the authors’ own experiences and/or are based on thorough research.

And I am particularly interested in producing films and series that combine a mix of genres, hybridity being something towards which I keep leaning more and more. I am working with talented authors such as Peca Ştefan, Paul Cioran, Igor Cobileanski, Ana Margineanu, Vlad Petri and Christopher Manning and I look forward to new creative encounters ahead. When it comes to servicing, I have the same preoccupation – I get involved as executive producer for foreign projects shooting in Romania if these are from directors I appreciate. And how lucky I’ve been to have my first ever shooting with my own company for Davy Chou’s All the People I’ll Never Be, a film which will see the light of day under Cannes’ sun, [as it has been selected in this year’s Un Certain Regard). I and Davy’s French producer Katia Khazak like to say that I “baptised” my company with this project we share. And what a lovely baptism it’s been!

Some say that the main mission of a producer is to manage the director’s expectations. What is your opinion here?
For me, the producer-director relationship is a bit like a dance. We try to dance together as harmoniously as possible. And from month to month, from project to project, there’s a chance to grow artistically and to change the “dance style.” As long as the “choreography” is prepared and we have mutual trust, we can do wonders together. Expectations are on both sides and we both complete each other in knowledge and vision. And, as long as our expectations of one another and of the project are always discussed, every time we “get all tangled up, we just tango on,” to paraphrase a cult film [Scent of a Woman].

Your upcoming film Mammalia (read the news) is a surreal drama about masculinity in crisis. What can you say about the challenges you had to face during production?
Mammalia is an example of creatives dancing together and growing together. We started out six years ago, when director Sebastian Mihăilescu just turned 30 and when screenwriter Andrei Epure and I were still in our 20s. As you mature, your ideas about certain topics, like the ones we were dealing with for our script – masculinity, femininity, gender frictions – grow in complexity and nuance. We have been harmonising and discussing our ideas all these years, each drawing from our own experiences.

And finally, when it came to shooting and encapsulating Sebastian's vision, I think Andrei, myself, Ada and the whole team were all in sync to best support the production. You will soon see how special this film is – it’s narrative and anti-narrative, it’s improvised and it’s hyperreal – things made possible by the abstraction of the script, by the granulation of the 16mm film, by surreal production design and lightning. All challenges were met with professionalism, respect, flexibility and lots of hard work and creativity.

How would you describe working in a small film industry? Does the state provide sufficient support?
Over here, we’re always on a mission to improve the status quo and not to settle for lack of national funding and support. What we are mostly annoyed by is that we are often ignored within the country, despite the wonderful ways in which Romanian cinema is embraced abroad. The Romanian National Film Centre provides support for our productions, both majority and minority, and while the legislation is perfectible and more funding is needed to support the great talent that we have, this is a functional system. What is truly disheartening is the fact that the tax rebate scheme hasn’t been functioning for two years now – and not for lack of pressure by the filmmaking community. And what I really wish is for us to be able to soon develop regional funding schemes too and provide the proper means for the development of a robust and healthy industry.

What are your expectations regarding Producers on the Move?
I look forward to discovering the work of fellow participants and see how we can partner up. The network of trusted partners that I have, created through EAVE and other workshops, will definitely be enriched by Producers on the Move. And I cannot wait to enjoy this offline experience! We deserve it, we’ve come a long way, after so much Zoom these past two years.