Past Season

Red Darkness Before Dawn
(DOCUMENTARY, 67 minutes)

Red Darkness Before Dawn is an hour-long documentary dedicated to revealing and preserving the truth of what occurred in the prisons and labor camps of Communist Romania.  Providing testimony of ex-political prisoners and historians alike, the film explores many of the torturous methods employed by the regime in Romania. By condemning the crimes of the past, the film serves as a sobering reminder of the methods of totalitarian regimes in the present, and if left undetected, in the future.

Filmmaker Profile: Diana Nicolae

Diana Nicolae is a native Romanian and recent MFA recipient from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her works have encompassed multiple genres, but her recent efforts focus on creating documentaries that bring attention to little known aspects of life in Romania.  Having spent much of her childhood under the brutal dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, Nicolae is aware of the tragedy that befell her country and the consistent suppression of the truth surrounding these events. 

• Filmmaker Diana Nicolae came to North Carolina in the fall of 2000 to begin her studies for an MFA in Film Production at UNC Greensboro.  North Carolina served as her home base throughout the three-year production period.
• All pre-production and post-production of Red Darkness Before Dawn took place in North Carolina. 
• Nicolae graduated from UNC-G in May 2003 with Red Darkness serving as her master's thesis.
• Nicolae plans to begin teaching at Bennett College this fall.