BY PASS by Napoleon Helmis

1. BY PASS by Napoleon Helmis 25A Emanoil Porumbaru 011421 Bucharest 1 Romania | p: +4021 222 68 75 | f: +4021 223 44 93 | www.abisstudio.ro | gabi@abisstudio.ro

2. Project details Genre: Thriller/ black comedy Language: Romanian Director: Napoleon Helmis Writers: Dan Sorin Staiculescu Alin Ludu Dumbrava Producer: Gabi Antal

3. The story This is a film about ordinary people in an unusual situation. It’s about options and opportunities, and choices. The subject, based on real social attitudes and realities, is focused on three individuals with a high risk factor job, the emergency team of an ambulance. Hidden under the genre plotpoints it’s the subtext of who we are and especially who we can become when we get close to failure, to the confirmation of a wasted life, of losing and we want to catch what it’s called, “the last train”. But it depends where that train is going...

4. Synopsis It all happens in a night and the following morning. In a mountain small town at the emergency station Monica ( doctor, 40 y.o.) and Lucian (male nurse, 28 y.o.) choose to be together on watch because they are lovers having an affair. One evening, on their watch they are called to the place of a big car crash. The driver of the ambulance is Doru (39 y.o.), a cynical, wretched man whose life is falling into pieces. The crew leaves for the accident, but they are turned by the dispatcher, sending them to an isolated village in the mountains, where an old man (Cojocaru, 73 y.o.) called with his last breath the ambulance. They leave towards the village in very bad weather and on the way they talk about their unfulfilled life. Getting there they discover the old man unconscious, alone in the house, victim of a stroke. Due to rain and mud they can’t bring the stretcher into the house. Looking for another mean to transport him, they accidentaly discover, hidden under the bed a huge amount of money, all in USD. They start to question whose money can be, and they are tempted to take them when a neighbour, old woman (Lilica, 67 y.o.), interferes and they are forced to leave with the old man to the hospital and leave the money there. On the way back the dilemma becomes a burning issue, what should they do with the old man and the money? They decide to take the money and keep it and try to change their lives as they still can. They call it a decisive but imminent BY PASS. They draw and Lucian is the one who should “take care” of the old man. Monica and Doru in the menatime will go back in the village to get the money but the things don’t go as planned....

5. Characters & casting proposals Gabriel Spahiu http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0816637/ Medeea Marinescu http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0547614/ Vlad Logigan http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4115819/

6. Director’s view This movie will stand as a reversed metaphor for life. It will debut with a sunset and it will end with a sunrise.  Visually, the movie will be dominated by crossroads, symbols of the choices people must take in life. The action of the movie will happen only at night. The rain, mud and the step road the characters must face, will add tension to the atmosphere.  The sets and locations will be rather poor and half broken, in order to emphasize the medium in which the action is happening.  The acting and the rhythm must be hesitant and discontinuous in order to emphasize the characters' constant struggle for making a decision.  As a final note: this movie will not be a minimalist story, as you've so often seen in the Romanian cinema. All the elements above: the night, the rain, the tension, the crossroads, they are all required elements in building this psychological thriller.  Producer’s statement ABIS STUDIO has over 15 years experience in international and domestic productions Our aim is to produce a very authentic Romanian movie for the large audience. Our Director is one of the most talented Romanian directors. Its movies are very well received by the people and there are well performing in the cinemas. The movie will be shown also in all the major film festivals around the world.