Capturing Sami

In this project Adi analyses the echoes of political violence in our private lives by following Sami’s journey. This young man, thoroughly indifferent to the turmoil of the outside world, records his life on film, as one would in a diary. With his girlfriend Pia, he walks the streets of Bucharest as they are flooded by the 2017 demonstrations against corruption. Aloof to the political event unfolding before him, he keeps filming his chronicle. He’s then arrested by the police and taken into a van along with demonstrators. As his camera is taken away from him, Sami suddenly becomes part of the event, and no longer a mere witness.
Adi uses a subjective, intimate and immersive mise-en-scène to convey the coming-of-age story of a naïve young man. Both funny and violent, this film seeks to tackle how one becomes politically aware once the naked eye takes over the lens.