In 2024, officially declared “The Year of Avram Iancu,” the first docudrama dedicated to the hero from Transylvania, who played a key role in the 1848 Revolution, will be released in theaters. The role is portrayed by actor Horia Fedorca.
Next year marks two centuries since the birth of the man nicknamed “The Prince of the Mountains” for his pivotal role in the 1848 Revolution in Transylvania. An independent production team led by actors Alin Panc and Alexandru Pop – PaPa Pictures, has crafted the first docudrama for cinema dedicated to this significant historical figure. Here are the first exclusive details. The film, aptly named “Avram Iancu – Against the Empire,” is directed by Theo Thorn and stars actor Horia Fedorca, an employee of the “Radu Stanca” National Theatre in Sibiu – both of them making their debut. It will be released in theaters on January 24, 2024.
My blood ran cold: I had the feeling that I saw Avram Iancu.
When he received the proposal to audition for this film, Horia Fedorca was almost predestined because his resemblance to the hero is striking! At 26, he was just two years older than Avram Iancu (during the 1848 Revolution) whom he was to embody. However, auditions were necessary. ‘The first time I saw him, I couldn’t believe how fantastic the visual resemblance was. And then, I was glad to discover that Horia is also a very good actor. I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that when I saw his auditions, my blood ran cold: I had the feeling that I saw Avram Iancu,’ said Alin Panc. ‘No one has told me until now that I resemble Avram Iancu, but during the filming, everyone on set was impressed by it. They even called me “Crăișorul” around there,’ confessed Horia Fedorca. The actor found out about the casting for this film directly from the director. ‘I had filmed with Theo Thorn for another movie that didn’t come out. Last summer, he called me again, to ask what I was doing in October. He told me about this film and then invited me to audition. I knew I had a very busy schedule, so I told him that it didn’t make sense to send an audition. However, he insisted, telling me that perhaps if the audition was good, we could manage to film according to my schedule. I sent two auditions, and on August 10, I found out that I had been chosen to play Avram Iancu,’ he added. The auditions he mentions were two video recordings with significant monologues of the character, one of which was in front of the council.
A team of Transylvanians.
The filming for ‘Avram Iancu – Against the Empire’ took place from October 9th to 15th and was carried out in the northern part of Hunedoara County, near the town of Brad. Like the production team, Horia is from Transylvania, and he cherished this experience in a special way.
“As a Transylvanian, I knew about Avram Iancu. Not a lot, not even half of what I know now, but I knew. I knew he was the revolutionary from 1848, one of the key figures of those times. I knew he was also a lawyer, a very important personality of Transylvania,” declared Horia to ‘Adevărul’. He also mentioned that he meticulously researched for this role but did not draw inspiration from other video imagery. In Romania, there is only one full-length film about the life of Avram Iancu, ‘Mountains on Fire,’ directed by Mircea Moldovan, released in 1980, starring Vlad Rădescu in the lead role.
How he got into character:
“I tried to study more from the monograph written by Silviu Dragomir, ‘Avram Iancu – A Hero’s Life.’ That’s where I started with my research. Then, I used other information found on the Internet. But I didn’t use other video sources because it is an artistic documentary film, and I could contribute my own interpretation. I tried to understand him not only from the descriptions of others but also from his quotes, the words that were recorded as 100% his.”
I challenged Horia to describe the character he portrayed and to share what he used from his personal life to embody the role. “He was prone to anger, he became incensed quickly, but he learned, over time, to control himself very well. However, even though he learned to control his intense emotions, he felt them inside, and they consumed him. When Romania and Romanians were discussed, he got very agitated and wouldn’t speak at all until he calmed down because he knew better than anyone that he could lose control. I used a recent personal conflict that I experienced. I went through a situation where my correctness regarding an event was betrayed. I can’t stand moments when people are nice and kind until they see their interest. I get very worked up when someone is not honest with me,” he said.
We also found out which was the most challenging scene during filming: “At one point, I had to film soaking wet, although it was quite cool outside, only about 14 degrees.
Business Card
Horia Fedorca was born in Satu Mare on August 21, 1996. He attended the Acting Faculty at the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest (both bachelor’s and master’s degrees) and has been employed at the “Radu Stanca” National Theatre in Sibiu since 2020. He already performs significant roles in most of the institution’s shows – “Faust” (directed by Silviu Purcărete), “The Cherry Orchard” (directed by Dumitru Acriș), “Romeo and Juliet” (directed by Andriy Zholdak), “Three Sisters,” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (directed by Andrei and Andreea Grosu).
Source: Adevarul.ro
