Let's make it clear from the start: this is the theme of this year's image campaign, not necessarily the theme of the festival selection. Although, probably, if I were to close my eyes and randomly put my finger on one of the almost 200 films in the program, there’s an 85% chance I'd land on a film about relationships (whether they're platonic, amorous, familial, couples’ or however else or between whom they may be).
On the other hand, love stories per se are nowhere near as dominant, although the ones that are in the line-up are hot enough to make up for it: the one in Casablanca is intimate, atypical and heartbreaking; the triple one in The Beast is satisfyingly sophisticated and schizoid; the one in The Writer is liberating; the one in Seven Hills Seven Seas has so much pathos and mysticism that only the giant screen in Unirii Square can handle it; and, last but not least, the one in Trust is so sick and subtly visceral that it may undermine your drive to ever again abandon yourself without the safety net of a romantic relationship. Returning to the connective slogan of the current edition, "in a reelationship", it indeed continues the story started last year with the two cinema lovers, but moves it almost exclusively to the online space, strategically borrowing its imagery and communication codes.
The idea came to us from that viral clip, pun included, of the Indian guy saying "if I send you a reel and you send me a reel, it means we are in a reelationship." This reel exchange redefines the way most of us relate today, it means we know each other well enough to know what kind of content, opinion, situation or humor the other resonates with. This type of connection is as curated as in real life, evoking the way communities are built in the context of the festival, the way we recommend films to different audiences, the way people recommend films to one another based on their tastes...