They Sleep Standing (2021)

Catherine, Oana and Bogdan are all at a crossroads. Each in their way, they approach their 30s with uncertainty. The uncertainty of where to go, where they left from and what they will have to leave behind. The present is sluggish and the heat of summer puts life on hold before the action starts again. The third documentary by filmmaker Bogdan Stoica ('Omni: An Act Against Gravity' (Hot Docs 2018); 'The Irreversible Consequences of Slipping on a Banana Peel' (Ji.hlava IDFF 2019, Special Mention at Fidba 2020), 'They Sleep Standing' mixes documentary and fiction, cinema and photography, romanticism, dream and pragmatism to create a fantasy documentary anchored in instability, fragility and discovery. Turning its gaze on the universe that surrounds the trio, the work proposes a foray into a world where all are led by a deep desire to exist, to assert and empower themselves, but up to what cost?