Journey… far away from Africa
SYNOPSIS
SINOPSE
On 24 October 1964 Zambia gained its independence from the United Kingdom. What followed was a period of socio-economic development and governmental decentralisation to which European scientists contributed by participating in the regional development and land mapping mission. One of those delegated specialists was the Romanian geologist Cocoș Traian, who together with his wife, spent 2 years mapping and visiting the Central African region. During his work, geologist Cocoș Traian captured on film in a personal style, various scenes documenting visits of Romanian officials to Lusaka, scenic areas, dances, hunts, landscapes and daily African life in that era of new Zambian freedom. The film we present here could be described as a work of observational cinema and subjective recording from the perspective of an outsider. Also in the early 1970s, Nicolae Ceaușescu was on an African tour aimed at strengthening the diplomatic relations of the Socialist Republic of Romania in the world, followed by visits to Asia.
BIOGRAPHY
BIOGRAFIA
Mr. Traian Cocoș was born on 25.09.1938 in Constanta, where he obtained his high school diploma. He attended magna cum laude the geodesy section at the Faculty of Construction in Bucharest (1956-1961). Traian worked as a geodesy engineer for survey maps at the Geological Committee between 1961-1991. He took part in field campaigns for photogrammetric maps in all mining areas of Romania. At the Geomin Institute he carried out geophysical surveying work in Germany in Jena (1965), in Zambia (1971-1973) and in Yemen (1982) for geological prospecting. Following a governmental cooperation between Romania and Zambia he was part of a team of geologists, geophysicists and geochemists who prospected for useful minerals in important mining areas such as Ntambu, Mufulira, Zambezi, Livingstone and Sebembere. Between 1991-2016 he carried out geodesy and cadastral work for private companies that had implemented properties after the 1989 revolution. Since 2016 he is based in Oradea.
Răzvan Marchiș is a multilateral artist and trainer. After studying film in Bucharest, he returned to his hometown, Oradea, and worked with a theatre NGO, before starting his own venture on the independent cultural and educational scene, MA hub. Through the years, though he explored with theater and contemporary dance, he remained loyal to his passion for cinema, organising a cineclub screening both fiction and documentary arthouse movies. Recently he’s been ever more busy with cinema, teaching workshops and getting back into filmmaking.
