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The Hidden Story of the Pitesti Experiment Film

Let us expose a truth that must never happen again about a dark time of Communism, Romania, The Pitesti Experiment.  

This is the first film ever made on the subject. 
 
Because the state entities in Romania refused to fund this project, the film is financed through donations, thus becoming a 100% independent project, initiated by director Victoria Baltag. 
 
The shooting took place in authentic locations in Romania such as museums, memorial houses, forts in Bucharest, the former prison in Pitesti, and was completed in 2015.

We are raising funds to finish the post-production. Please donate to help us finish this movie !

The subject of the Piteşti [piˈteʃtʲ]  Experiment was kept out of the public eye until recently, and therefore we believe it is important that as many people as possible learn about it.

What happened in Romania was a terrible moment in history.

#The Untold Truth #Learn from the Past #Never Again #The Dark Time of Communism #Romania #Independent Film


What is " The Pitesti Experiment "?

The movie  depicts the true story  of the events which took place in Romania between 1949 and 1951 when, following the establishment of the Communist regime, all students were compelled to become members of the Party.

Consequently, those who refused were imprisoned and 're-educated'.

The re-education phenomenon, a concept borrowed from the Soviet pedagog A.S. Makarenko  , relied on the assumption that every person can become a 'new entity' through 're-education', which in this instance was achieved by means of both physical and mental torture.



Background

Romania.  1944-1989

More than 8 MILLION people  (half of the Romanian population at that time) were persecuted by the Communist regime (children, women, students, men). 

More than 1 MILLION people were imprisoned, tortured or killed  because of political reasons (most  of them without a trial or without letting the family know where did they disappear). 


How was the life in Communism, Romania: 

- It was against the law to leave the country and all who tried and did not manage ended up killed. 
- It was against the law to believe in God or to go to Church.
 It was against the law to have entrepreneurial activities. It was against the law to gain wealth (you were not allowed to have more than one car and one house). It was against the law to have other political views than the Communism views.

- It was against the law to choose not to have children (women were forced to pay a tax if they had no babies). It was against the law to keep in contact with foreigners or to travel abroad.  

- Between 1848-1952 in Romania there was a re-education prison for children (!!!!), the only prison for children in the entire  history in the world! It was called the Angels' Prison and the youngest child was 12 !!!! The stories about what happened there are of a high monstrosity. These were the best pupils of the time in the country.

- The students were imprisoned at Pitesti.  More than 1000 of the best students in the country were tortured/killed through the Pitesti Experiment.

NOBODY TALKS ABOUT THIS DARK HIDDEN HISTORY. 

THIS TRUE TIME OF COMMUNISM HAS NO INFORMATION ABOUT IT  SCHOOL BOOKS.

TO NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN, WE HAVE TO LEARN FROM THE PAST AND THIS FILM IS A STEP FORWARD TO THAT PROCESS.


Who is Victoria Baltag? 


Victoria is a Romanian film director and producer who has received multiple awards from prestigious festivals such as the Research Festival LSE and Sheffield Film Festival.

In 2014, she began work on the The Pitesti Experiment and then shot it in 2015 - A monumental undertaking that involved 300+ scenes, 16 hours of filming, and up to 7 scenes per day.


Victoria contacted the USA Romanian Diaspora  for help and will be in the United States in September to raise the needed funds to finish her film.

Viitorul Roman Society , Romanians in New England Association , The Romanian Center of Chicago , Connections Romania,  The Romanian Community Center of Sacramento, the Romanian community in Las Vegas, the San Francisco Romanian Community and Romanians in Colorado  welcome her initiative and encourage you to please #HelpVictoriaFinishTheMovie   


Messages of support from the Romanian diaspora in the US:

 Maria-Cristina Iordan from Romanians in Colorado:

Dana Pentia and Cristian Chelariu on behalf of AR-NE (Association of Romanians in New England):

A message from Cristian Prisecaru, the action coordinator of the project:

Victoria and the story of her beautiful project:

Use of Funds:
 
Your contribution will go to pay the external post-production companies to do the sound editing, color grading, music, mixing, enveloping, footage archive honorary and parts of the footage editing honorary

Funds needed by  30 of September 2019.


THANK YOU! MULTUMESC!
Donate

Donations 

  • Yulia Soldatkina
    • $10 
    • 1 yr
  • Federico Intini
    • $20 
    • 1 yr
  • Cristina Mauna
    • $10 
    • 1 yr
  • Wilco Krul
    • $134 
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $30 
    • 1 yr
Donate

Organizer and beneficiary

Maria-Cristina Iordan
Organizer
Denver, CO
Alireza Alemohammad
Beneficiary

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