Encounters 2021: Collective

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters Documentary Film Festival. Always a highlight in our calendar, the festival returns this year with limited physical screenings at The Bioscope from 11-20 June. Tickets are R70. For more information on the festival as a whole, please visit encounters.co.za

COLLECTIVE

Directed by: Alexander Nanau. (Romania | Luxembourg). Dur: 1h 49 mins.

This masterfully observed film documents the events that took place in Romania when Colectiv, a Bucharest nightclub, burned down, killing 36 people and wounding numerous others, many of whom died later, not as a result of their burns but due to bacterial infection in state hospitals. It quickly becomes clear that the out-of-control death rate in Romanian hospitals is linked specifically to disinfectants provided by a local chemical company, and more broadly to the endemically corrupt nature of Romania’s mafia state. When Vlad Voiculescu, an earnest and  genuinely honest young doctor, is appointed Minister of Health, it seems like things might change, but he faces an uphill battle with no political allies. The film follows Voiculescu, along with a crack investigative team at a national newspaper, as the disturbing but gripping narrative evolves. An important film that echoes the political situation in many other countries around the world.

COVID POLICY AND PROCEDURE.

The new Bioscope location is set to be a 47 seater cinema. We are however selling far less in order for there to be space to sit apart from other members of the public. We ask you to please keep your mask on the entire time within the cinema premises. Drinks and snacks will be on sale and can be consumed during the film, but please consider those around you when your mask is off for this. 44 Stanley is largely an open air shopping centre, and The Bioscope has a great outside space directly outside the cinema that public can make use of. Within the cinema, we will also make use of temperature reading, air filtering, and constant cleaning to make sure that The Bioscope remains a safe and hygienic experience.

After purchasing tickets, if you experience any COVID related symptoms, or come into contact with anyone who has tested positive, we ask you to please not attend the screening. Please understand that The Bioscope will not be able to refund you this ticket. We are happy however for you to give your ticket to someone else that can attend. If this is not possible, we would be happy to exchange your ticket for a future screening/event. This can all be coordinated via email at [email protected]