Cinetic Media has signed “Collective” writer-director Alexander Nanau for management, representing the filmmaker across scripted and documentary film and television.
After debuting at the Venice International Film Festival in 2019, Nanau’s documentary film “Collective” (from Magnolia Pictures and Participant) has earned widespread acclaim and has been designated as Romania’s official submission for best international feature at the 2021 Academy Awards.
“Encountering Alexander’s masterpiece ‘Collective’ at the Toronto International Film Festival last year was a revelation. He has a deep understanding of cinema and his skillful mastery of the different storylines about investigative journalism, human interest and politics in one powerful narrative endows him as master storyteller. We’re thrilled to represent him,” Kate Hurwitz, head of Cinetic’s management practice, said in a statement.
The film’s story centers on the 2015 fire at the Colectiv nightclub, which killed 64 people and injured hundreds, with Nanau leading audiences from the deadly tragedy, to a health care crisis, to the heart of political corruption within the Romanian government.
“I was interested in understanding what’s going on because demonstrations had erupted … There was manipulation and kids were continuing to die in hospitals. It was clear that we were assisting in a lie,” Nanau told Variety about filming the doc. “I thought it would be interesting to follow [journalist Cătălin Tolontan] and understand what was going on in society, through the eyes of an investigative journalist and investigative power. When I started the film I never knew where it would lead and what it was like to be there when a journalist finds information, verifies it and meets whistleblowers. It was such an adventure.”
The German-Romanian filmmaker won an International Emmy Award in 2010 for the documentary “The World According to Ion B,” and also helmed the critically acclaimed “Toto and His Sisters.” Nanau joins a growing roster of award-winning filmmakers at Cinetic Media, including David Gordon Green, Rachel Lears, Lana Wilson and Janus Metz, plus Oscar nominees Yance Ford, Matthew Heineman and Richard Linklater.
Founded in 2001 by John Sloss, Cinetic offers a “a full suite of services, including talent management, financing, domestic and international content sales, corporate advisory, and marketing.” Since then, Cinetic has launched strategic partnerships with Green’s Rough House to create Brand New Story — “a free-standing advisory business which works with top brands and Hollywood storytellers to finance, develop, distribute and market long-form content that integrates brand ethos into entertainment properties” — and teamed up with All3Media for a development venture into film, television and audio content creation.