Screenwriter and publicist Mihai Poiata reflects on the complex personality of filmmaker Emil Loteanu, his artistic ambitions, the disappointments that shaped his career and the difficulties he faced after returning to Chisinau. In an interview with Realitatea, Poiata recalls his encounters with the filmmaker and explains why professional success did not always bring Loteanu the personal satisfaction he sought.
Mihai Poiata says his first encounter with Loteanu’s cinema took place in 1966, when he watched the film The Red Meadows at the Cultural Centre in the village of Cojusna. For the teenager at the time, the experience was unexpected, particularly because it was the first time he had seen a film made in Romanian.
“I was watching a film in my mother tongue for the first time. I had never even considered the possibility that films could be produced and made in Romanian or Moldovan, as we called it back then,” the screenwriter recalls.
Speaking about the director’s personality, Poiata says Loteanu turned every public appearance into a performance. He paid close attention to his image, the way he presented himself and the impression he made on those around him.
“He turned every public appearance into a performance,” Mihai Poiata says, adding that Loteanu remained an artist even in situations that had nothing directly to do with art.
One of the filmmaker’s defining characteristics, in the screenwriter’s view, was the importance he placed on public recognition. Loteanu closely followed audience reactions and measured success partly by the length of applause at film premieres.
“He would time the applause, measure how long it lasted at a premiere, for example, because he saw it as an indicator. He had his own measurements, different from those used by a film critic,” Poiata explains.
According to him, when audience reactions fell short of Loteanu’s expectations, the director became disappointed. This sensitivity to external recognition may have contributed to the paradox of his life: an artist who was widely known and appreciated, yet who did not seem entirely satisfied with his own achievements.
The screenwriter also discussed the difficulties Loteanu encountered after returning to Chisinau. Mihai Poiata believes the filmmaker faced a reality in which the local film industry lacked the financial resources and conditions necessary to produce feature-length films.
Poiata also recalled the pressures of the Soviet system and the censorship mechanisms that film productions had to undergo, as well as the way Loteanu managed to preserve a distinct artistic identity.
In Mihai Poiata’s view, Emil Loteanu’s legacy should not be reduced to the image of a legendary filmmaker. Instead, his work should be rediscovered through watching and analysing his films.
“We should not turn Emil into an icon. Once you turn someone into an icon, you stop watching their films.”
Loteanu’s films continue to convey an important lesson about the relationship between art, history, myth and cultural identity, Mihai Poiata says.
The interview with Mihai Poiata is part of a series of features marking the 90th anniversary of Emil Loteanu’s birth, celebrating one of the most important directors in Moldovan cinema.