VANISHING POINT

A political prisoner escapes a Danube prison barge and begins a desperate journey across Eastern Europe, battling nature, fear, and oppression. With freedom as his only goal, he risks everything to defy a system built to crush him.

In the summer of 1963, political prisoner Gică Scurtu escapes from a floating prison on the Danube. Hunted and starving, he flees across Romania, Ukraine, and Russia, surviving in forests, abandoned homes, and freight trains. Inspired by a photo of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, he dreams of freedom. He briefly finds shelter with a woman near Leningrad but resumes his journey towards Finland. Just before reaching the border, he’s captured and sent back to Romania. Later pardoned, he finds post-prison life equally suffocating under communism. In one final daring escape, hidden in a Czech tourist’s car, Gică finally reaches freedom.

Director's note

This film concludes a trilogy about the relationship between the individual and freedom. In my previous films “Why Me?” and “Libertate / Freedom”, I’ve tackled the same theme of freedom in various ways, from the young prosecutor trying to preserve his own values and principles (fighting an obtuse and rotten system) to the revolutionaries of December 1989 who fought for freedom but, once won, did not know what to do with it. Now, in “The Vanishing Point,” it’s about the extraordinary journey of an individual who just wants to live in freedom, not under an oppressive Communist regime.
I’ve also long been drawn to the idea of making a film inspired by the painful experiences of political prisoners in the labour camps of the ’50s and ’60s, especially those from the Danube–Black Sea Canal or the ones set up in the Danube Delta, far away from civilisation. But what fascinated me most wasn’t necessarily the suffering and torment they endured – not because it’s unworthy of attention (on the contrary, it’s been well documented in books, documentaries, and TV reports) – but rather what happened to those people in 1964, when many of these prisoners were released.
How do you rebuild yourself after hell? How do you become human again? How do you reintegrate into a world that has changed in your absence? Where do you find your place, and how?
I’ve read a great deal of literature on this subject and always believed that, one day, I’d come across a story that would compel me to write, to research, to commit to telling it.
When it comes to these labour camps from the Danube Delta, I was always intrigued (and found it to be a powerfully cinematic detail) that over 500 prisoners were “housed” on an abandoned barge, named “Gironde” – essentially a floating prison. Then recently, I came across the true story of Gheorghe (Gică) Scurtu, who managed not only a spectacular escape from the camp but went on to cross the entire Soviet Union from south to north in just a few months, attempting to reach the Finnish border and freedom. It might sound like madness, but in reality, it was a desperate attempt to reach the long-dreamed-of liberty – a flight from a world in which he had been imprisoned, sentenced to a tragic fate.
The kind of film I envision is one built on silence, glances, the relationship between the character and the nature around him. Nothing grand or stylised in the vein of Malick – perhaps more akin to the minimalist world of Gus Van Sant’s “Gerry.” It’s a journey towards freedom, which for this character is not a choice but a necessity. Without it, he cannot exist.
A friend told me this story feels like a Romanian take on “The Revenant.” I don’t particularly like comparisons – they often feel forced or misleading – but there’s one point I agree with: just like “The Revenant,” locations will be essential for this film. Also, the way we depict the extreme winter conditions the protagonist endured must feel authentic. These elements cannot be recreated through visual effects or green screen.
I envision working with a relatively small and agile crew, one that allows us to fully immerse ourselves in the raw, physical journey of this man towards freedom.

Screenwiter's note

Subjects:
migration, journey, politics, society, human rights, adventures