Bogdan Theodor Olteanu wrote and directed several shorts, two features and four theatre plays.
He dropped out of school short after 18 and followed a convoluted path to directing. He was a rugby player at a top club in Romania, an investigation journalist at a leading daily newspaper, a sports marketing consultant, a political communication consultant. Wrote short stories and was a founding member of an online culture magazine – SUB25.
His work in film and theatre deals with the ever-changing landscape of urban youth. He observes generations of young people in search of identity, caught between extreme libertarian values, post-communism trauma and a Balkanic background. Born and raised in Bucharest, Bogdan has placed all of his stories in that city, the country capital and a melting pot of Slavic, Oriental and Western European influences.
His debut feature, Several Conversations about a Very Tall Girl, had 4 nominations at the GOPO – Romanian Film Industry Awards – Best Debut, Best Performance by an Actress in a leading Role (both Silvana Mihai and Florentina Năstase) and Young Hope (Tudor D. Popescu, editor). After being shown at several festivals worldwide, it was bought by HBO and Netflix. The second feature, Mia misses her revenge just premiered at Warsaw IFF and is screened at festivals around the world.
His first two plays Hottest Day of the Year and Taxi Drivers were selected at some of the most important theatre festivals in Romania.
THEATRE WORKS
2017 / “Hottest Day of the Year”- Apollo111 Theatre
2018 / “Taxi Drivers” – Apollo111 Theatre
2020 / “Sara/Mara” – Apollo111 Theatre (waiting to be premiered)
2021 / “Julieta w/o Romeo” – Odeon Theatre
FILM WORKS
2014 / “Sunday Morning” – 25 min.
2015 / “Chinese Lanterns” – 20 min.
2016 / “I do not know which Maria” – 17 min.
2018 / “Several conversations about a very tall girl” – 75 min.
2020 / “Mia misses her revenge” – 2020 – 85 min.
Juliet w/o Romeo
(written by Bogdan Theodor Olteanu and Alex Mircioi)
It is a coming-of-age story constructed upon a critical perspective on women’s representation in classic(al) plays. Up to a point, the structure mirrors the source text. Our Juliet lives in a small-town Romania. Her father is the most prolific businessman there. Romeo’s father is a prosecutor and has been investigating the former for the last 10 years. The two kids’ relationship is as taboo as it was for Shakespeare.
But Juliet w/o Romeo is not just an innocent adaptation of the original. Juliet wants to audition for an acting school, with one of Juliet’s monologues. Thus, Romeo and Juliet is reflected through the outlook and opinions of a modern-day teenager. Juliet’s mother, Martha, is a character borrowed from the 20th century American dramaturgy. The “Nurse” is a young woman helping Juliet prepare for her audition. She’s named Sonya and her presence and actions have a certain Chekhovian touch.
The three women are prisoners of their own minds. They are caught in a perpetual negotiation between very particular perspectives on gender roles and how a proper upper-class family should look like.
Taxi Drivers
(written by Bogdan Theodor Olteanu and Adrian Nicolae)
The play is a study of class dynamics and mentalities clashing. The story takes place during a night shift and follows two taxi drivers. They are close friends, working for the same company, constantly talking and meeting frequently during the night, for a coffee or a shaorma. Two very different individuals – one of them is extroverted and talkative, with aggressive language and fixed ideas, pushing them in your face without hesitation. The second one, shy, introverted, polite, rational.
The secondary and episodic characters are typical for a big city – yuppies, millennials, students, homeless people, a mobster’s wife. As hours pass by, the two taxi drivers begin to change. One due to his interactions with passengers, the other one because his wife just threatened to divorce him – she has had enough of living merely above the poverty line.
They are two people dealing with many issues, without the capacity to properly analyze them. Men like any other, rather victims of circumstances than autonomous individuals.
