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 THEY CAME TO PLAY
USA, documentary, 2008; 91 min
Director: Alex Rotaru
Producer: Lori Miller
Executive Producers: Ronnie Planalp, Matt Cooper
Production company: The Vault and 88 Films
Cinematographers: Brian O'Connell, Adrian Popescu
Editors: Harrison Engle, Drew Kilcoin
Featured: Esfir Ross, Drew Mays, Clark Griffith, Annette DeMedio, Henri Delbeau, Slava Levin, James Raphael
Synopsis
Directed
by Romanian expat Alex Rotaru and lensed by fellow Romanian Adrian
Popescu, THEY CAME TO PLAY is an award-winning, uplifting
feature-length documentary chronicling the International Piano
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, hosted by The Van Cliburn
Foundation. Amateur pianists from all over the world, ranging from
self-taught to classically-trained, aged thirty-five to almost eighty,
convene in Fort Worth, Texas for a week of competition, music and
camaraderie.
Entertaining and above all inspiring, the film
provides an intimate look into the lives of these colorful,
multi-faceted competitors as they strive to balance the demands of work
and family with their love of music. Years of dedicated preparation
culminate in competition performances before a professional jury and
discerning audience during three nerve-wracking elimination rounds.
Director Alex Rotaru
Alex
Rotaru was born in Bucharest, Romania, to playwright Eugen Rotaru and
actress Maria Rotaru. After an early career as a child actor, Alex got
a degree in Physics from MIT, followed by MFA from USC’s School of
Cinematic Arts. He worked as cinematographer, editor and producer for
PBS, HBO, Discovery, and the BBC and received in 2006 Christopher Award
for co-producing, shooting and editing the PBS “P.O.V.” one-hour
special The Hobart Shakespeareans. He produced and directed Au/rtistic
Kids With Cameras, a documentary about creative genius in children with
Asperger’s Syndrome; and directed award-winning feature documentary,
They Came To Play, about the Van Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition.
His
screenplay The End of Rain won first prize from the Center for National
Cinema in Romania in 2006, and is slated for production in the summer
of 2009. Alex is currently directing Shakespeare High, a feature
documentary about the DTASC High School Shakespeare Competition. Alex
spends his time between Los Angeles, Paris, and Bucharest.
Filmography
THEY CAME TO PLAY, feature documentary - 2008
SHAKESPEARE HIGH, in production – 2009
THE END OF RAIN, in pre-production – 2009
KIDS WITH CAMERAS, documentary - 2009
THE HOBART SHAKESPEAREANS, documentary - 2005
Festivals and Awards
Fort Worth’s Lone Star International Film Festival, 2009
Winner Best Documentary, Bucharest’s Best International Film Festival, 2009
Winner Best Documentary, Providence’s SENE Film, Music and Art Festival, 2009
Syracuse International Film Festival, 2009
Winner Documentary Audience Award, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, 2008
DVD/trailer Source
Lori Miller, Producer
lorikmiller@earthlink.net |
