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Fri Jan 30 19:14:47 EST 2015

The film is influenced director Ilinia Calugareanu's own experiences growing up in Romania, yet speaks to anyone who has ever glimpsed a broader, less restrictive world through a story.

courtesy of the Sundance Institute Ilinica Calugareanu

Many of us have fond memories of parents and children gathered around the VCR to watch a rented movie on a Friday night. Before the fall of the Iron Curtain, however, Romanian families could only get their VHS tapes on the black market, making American action icon Chuck Norris a symbol of freedom and rebellion not only on-screen but in real life. These illicit movie-marathons are at the heart of Olinica Calugareanu's "Chuck Norris vs. Communism."

In 1980s Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain opening a window into the free world for those who dared to look.A black-market VHS racketeer and a courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the people and sparked a revolution.

I was 6 years old in 1986 and my parents found a way to borrow a VCR. They invited all their friends over and all night they watched grainy VHS tapes of American films. I remember all the movies I watched and especially how I felt when I stepped into the living room. It was like walking into a different dimension a secret, magical and free world. There were millions of other Romanians who secretly watched films like we did. We all grew up with the feeling that Chuck Norris was more real than the reality presented to us in the propaganda news. Those tapes and their heroes changed a whole generation. So for us, this film is about the magic of film and the power it has to change our lives. One of the biggest threads for me is about the shared experience of watching films in a dangerous and underground space. Movies meant so much more to the people in this film; it was a completely different viewing experience than the one we can relate to today. It is about the way films leave a mark on your life to the point of being able to taste that experience, even after decades have passed.

I am originally Romanian, but now I'm based in London where I started a production company with my sister and producer Mara Adina. I fell in love with telling stories about people from early on, which made me embark on a journey that took me from anthropology to ethnographic filmmaking, to working as a film editor and now directing my first feature, "Chuck Norris vs Communism."

The first challenge was finding the best way to tell the story. Dont let this story down is the sentence that stayed with me throughout the process. It was a journey of trying and failing. For quite some time, the main quest was finding the central character. After which, the question of should we go with animation or re-enactments? became central. We were constantly guided by the desire to create a cinematic experience, a film that would reach as many people as possible despite the language barrier.

courtesy of the Sundance Institute 'Chuck Norris vs. Communism'

I hope that Chuck Norris vs Communism will take the audience at Sundance back to the magical moments when they first fell in love with film.

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