A Communist Past: Fake Me A Happy New Year/ Četri Mielasti (2013) Liene Linde

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

A Communist Past: A Very Married Christmas

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

I have written on Radu Muntean's Tuesday, After Christmas/ Marţi, după Crăciun (2010) before but I thought it would be interesting to mention it again as it is Christmas Eve and officially, Romanian Christmas on this very day. The film is the story of an affair and its repercussions and, in fact, does not have much to do with Christmas itself. It is more about the symbolism that is at play - Christmas is at the end of the year so it stands for the finishing off of things or bringing them to an end. The protagonist, Paul (Mimi Branescu) brings his marriage to an end at Christmas and his story is executed in flawless realist style. Tuesday, After Christmas is easily one of the best achievements of Romanian cinema.

A Communist Past: The Origins of My Interest in Eastern European Arts and Culture

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

Migration is a poem I wrote about six years ago. It details the transition and hardship of moving from a country of birth to an unknown new place. Once someone migrates they are stuck in limbo between the country where they have moved away from and the country where they have chosen to live. This is an issue that I have raised in my studies on Eastern European cinema - from a diasporic perspective. Romanian born director, Radu Mihaileanu, has a Jewish background and lives in France - so what does that make him?

This little piece of prose is the story of my family's migration from Romania to Australia back in 1991 when I was three years old.

Prologue.

Violently exposed to this unknown world-

Humidity’s odor shocks me.

What of this foreign language that... drowns... my ears

 Past.

Three years old, on my mother’s hip, I depart from

All I know. Str. Anton Pann, Sighisoara.

"Where is Grandma?"

This is our home now

At this I feel a tear.

By thirteen, I emerge being accepted for the way I match my words to those that feel it counts-

"What’s this?" they say, "You’re not from here"-

"Of course" I lie, full of fear, knowing that

they may, in the canteen and the courtyard and the classroom

Slide away into the corner where I do not sit.

Future.

And what will happen at thirty-three?

What of this distant accent can I still speak?

"It’s nearly gone!" my mother weeps.

You let go of your native speech

For you were weak

And let them change

Your mind and your writing hand

Where all your selves once lay

But so quickly diminished when those kids

Said you pray-

"Why are you different?" they asked.

You never answered, instead you let them

make you someone else.

How sad it makes your world

And mine.

My mother, Mona, and I when we arrived in Germany, 

on the way to Australia.

A Communist Past: The Temperamental but Effective Results of a Rollei Film via an Olympus Trip

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

Although my favorite camera is undoubtedly my Porst Reflex, I decided against taking it to Europe this year and breaking my back with it (it gets heavy after a while, especially when you're backpacking!). I replaced it with my little Olympus Trip that I picked up for a ridiculous $3 at my local op shop. Little did I know that it had a light leak, but between this flaw and the intolerance of the Rollei film, my Olympus achieved some interesting results. Below are some photographs I took in Sighişoara, Berlin and Prague. P.S. The last three are taken on B&W Kodak film.

Props to my close friend Aaron Bensaude who helped me scan my film with his high tech photo scanner. Aaron is currently living in London and in the process of publishing a book on his grandfather's beautiful photographs, which focus on rural life in Portugal. He would not be happy with me as I have not yet tweaked these in Photoshop, but I'm all for imperfection in photography. So here they are in their imperfect state, enjoy.

Biserica din Deal/Church on the Hill in Sighişoara, Romania

(June 2012)

Casa Cu Cerb/Deer House in Sighişoara, Romania

(June 2012)

Turnul Cu Ceas/Clock Tower in Sighişoara, Romania 

(June 2012)

 

Abandoned Trabant in Kreuzberg, Berlin 

(July 2012)

 

Monument on Karlův Most/Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic

(May 2012) 

 

Musicians on Karlův Most/Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic

(May 2012) 

 

A back street in Prague, Czech Republic

(May 2012)

 

Karlův Most/Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic

(May 2012) 

A Communist Past: Romanian Revolution of 1989

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

 

An amazing series of images taken during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 that eventuated in the execution of the tyrannical communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his equally vindictive wife, Elena. Watch the video in it's entirety, it is really worth it.

Warning: Some disturbing images.

A Communist Past: Mural in Dresden

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

 Communist mural in Dresden, Germany

A Communist Past: Recollections of a Recent Experience

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

There are many things about Romania in terms of its socio-economic and political stance that I have been questioning for a number of years now. But it was not until June this year that I started to gain answers. I opted to travel to Romania for a variety of reasons but I will keep the list short. The last time I paid a visit to my native land was ten years ago and I remember feeling a heaviness about the people and their deprived surroundings, especially in the capital of București. 

This was oddly contrasted to the positive optimism manifested throughout the Transilvanian cities and towns of Brașov, Sighișoara and Cluj. I wanted to see if I felt the same feeling on this trip especially after writing on Romanian cinema and culture and it seems I was right. I guess it did not help that we experienced a downpour of rain during our entire stay in București and that we constantly stumbled across abandoned lots subjected to garbage overflow and abandoned dogs skirting the exterior facades of decrepit buildings. 

 Capitol summer cinema

 Memorial of Rebirth dedicated to those fallen 

during the Romanian Revolution of 1989

 "The People's House" or Ceaușescu's Communist Palace

There were many cues associated to Romania's communist history which seemed to clash with the country's desire to move entirely into the present, somewhat parallel to the West. I spoke to a few Romanians who had never left the country, let alone seen the capital. It was as if the paranoia and fear of the communist era had remained engrained within them. Others had been to Canada and the States only to return to Romania as they found things to be "better" in their homeland. 

Being an immigrant is hard and quite a challenge. You have to mold your old identity in with the new one and adapt to the unknown. I remember how hard it was for my parents to settle in Melbourne back in 1991. We were poor but my parents worked extremely hard to make a life for themselves and it was worth it. Strange though, when I go back to Romania, people still ask me why my parents left, "isn't it good here in Romania" they ask. Instead of trying to imagine the sacrifices my family made to build a better life for themselves and remembering the turmoil of the early 1990's they ask why we turned our back on our identity.

If anything we are celebrating our identity in the most unique way by combining our Romanian culture with our adopted Australian one. We speak an amalgamation of Romanian and English and we eat Sarmale followed by Pavlova for Christmas. We are embracing the best of both worlds.

A Communist Past: First Impressions of Prague

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

Since arriving in Prague a few days ago, I have been thinking constantly about its Communist history. This is a topic I do not know much about as I have never studied it in detail as I have Romanian communism. Walking through the streets of Zizkov, an up-and-coming neighbourhood filled with trendy café’s and vintage fashion boutiques, I am drawn to the graffiti, the old buildings that seem to be left in ruins, the strange characters passing by… I wonder how communism manifested in former Czechoslovakia. Nicolae Ceausescu, the Romanian communist leader, tore down historical buildings throughout Bucharest in order to build commission style flats in their place, perhaps a scheme that related to his obsession of increasing the Romanian population. In the old town of Prague the buildings are left in place, cultural history is celebrated proudly through artists like Mucha and Kafka. There is Art Nouveau architecture embellished with sculptures of ladies with beautiful long hair that have witnessed centuries of happenings. After spending a few weeks in Vienna, a romantic city of grandeur and elegance, I have come to the conclusion that Prague is not dissimilar to a medieval fairytale. It is charming to the same extent as Vienna, but there is a darkness that exists within its streets. The Viennese have looked after their city and it is in pristine condition, whereas Prague is gritty. Could this be due to communism and the idea of being left behind without any significant progression into the future? This is certainly the case in Romania and it is a main feature of my research in New Romanian Cinema. Anyway, I have opened up many questions for myself and I guess the first step is to watch more Czechoslovakian and New Czech Cinema.

For the time being, here is some preliminary research: