Forest of the Hanged

Romanian actor and director Liviu Ciulei’s Pădurea Spânzuratilor (The Forest of the Hanged) adapted from a novel by Liviu Rebreanu, appeared in competition at Cannes in 1965 where it received the Best Director award. The thrilling historical masterpiece takes place during the First World War, presenting a little-seen portrait of Romanian society at the turn of the century as it tells the story of a Romanian officer in the Austro-Hungarian army who refuses to fight against his own. Following the presentation in Cannes of Liviu Ciulei’s Pădurea Spânzuratilor (Forest of the Hanged), in direct co-operation with the Romanian Film Archive, the long version of the film was rediscovered and is currently undergoing restoration. The third film that we screened in Cannes, Mario Peixoto’s Limite, has been now registered by the Brazilian Committee of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program as a part of our documentary heritage. This program was established to “guard against collective amnesia, calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings” which is perfectly in line with the idea behind our mission.