” When a YouTube video of Alexandru Duru’s hoverboard flight goes viral, the young engineer sets a Guinness World Record and achieves the recognition he desires. But fame and fortune don’t come easily. Often mocked and ostracized (until they achieve their goal), inventors see the world in a distinct way. Duru is no different. The son of Romanian immigrants, he’s driven by a desire to achieve the impossible—and to cash in. Exploring the banality of Duru’s trial-and-error efforts, director Bogdan Stoica is an artistic risk-taker worthy of his subject. He allows contemplative scenes to develop in real-time with immaculate framing; a natural tension builds as we witness Duru strapping the equivalent of high-speed lawn mower blades to his feet. Avoiding the temptation to sensationalize and thus trivialize his subject, Stoica reveals a rich story about immigration, settlement and the human desire to transcend our physical confines.”
– Alexander Rogalski, Senior Canadian Programmer, HotDocs Canadian International Documentary Festival
A foggy morning in a small Romanian town. Alexandrina returns from Canadian exile from Canada to her withering mother Maria, a former teacher who is being taken over by advancing dementia. The intimate moments of broken relationships oscillating between acceptance, compassion and helplessness creep into the fate of a nation disrupted by communism, progressing illness, and the increased feeling of loneliness of an aging woman surrounded by her childhood dolls. In a documentary approximation interlaced by internal monologues with her own (imaginary) daughter, we follow the complicated and anxious path to family reconciliation and toward the place of no return.
“In its most magical moments, They Sleep Standing channels the majesty of early Lumières shorts. The subjects are relatively passive and live life without great incident. Their environments often take centre stage as we observe wind blowing through trees and dogs wandering through spaces searching for love and affection. The space suggests a certain grace offered by the natural world, and the peripheries hint at its ephemeral quality; not only will summer soon come to an end, but climate change threatens the possibility of any future at all.”
– Justine Smith, POV Magazine
