“Really an honor to have the films presented here”: Romanian producer Ada Solomon on her three films in Locrano’s competition 

Romanian powerhouse producer Ada Solomon arrived at the 78th Locarno Film Festival with a rare hat trick in the main competition. On her slate: Radu Jude’s unruly Dracula, Ivana Mladenović’s Sorella di Clausura, and Hana Jušić’s God Will Not Help, three very different visions threaded together by Solomon’s taste for risk and razor-sharp collaboration.

As she celebrates her films, Ada Solomon talked to The Hollywood Reporter about how the trio came together and how they are all different but share similar themes.

“They do have some things in common, in a way, but they are very, very different. There is the punkness of Ivana. Obviously, Radu has this irreverent way of presenting a cinematic story. And Hana’s God Will Not Help Us is yet a thing. God Will Not Help is about a bonding of two very different women, which is similar to what’s going on in Sorella, even though they are completely different proposals. Sorella is very noisy, it’s crowded, while God Will Not Help is a very peaceful, silent, contemplative, slow-paced film. But they are touching on some similar things.”

She then adds how she perceives cinema as something that raises questions through emotions, and hopes to have contributed towards a better understanding of the world as she continues,

“I think I can contribute, in a way, to a better understanding of the world we are living in. And I think we need this kind of dialogue more than ever, because we are living in a troubled world. The challenges are so complex because the fake, or not even the fake, but the one-sided perspectives are dominating our informational universe. And there is so little space for dialogue that I think that only emotions can now make us go deeper."

More details about Ada Solomon's films

Ada Solomon has had an exceptionally busy year at Locarno, with three competition films under her belt. She serves as co-producer on Hana Jušić’s God Will Not Help, about a Chilean woman entering a secluded Croatian shepherd community in the early 20th century, and as producer on Ivana Mladenović’s Sorella di Clausura, a tale of two women whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways.

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Both titles also feature in the Sarajevo Film Festival lineup alongside Vasile Todinca’s short Alișveriș, produced by Ada Solomon's microFILM younger generation led by Diana Caravia and Carla Fotea.

Beyond festivals, microFILM is preparing Alexandru Solomon’s Small Expectations, exploring Romanian politics and extremism, and Alina Șerban’s I Met Her, a groundbreaking Roma-led story centered on survival and empowerment. Together, these projects reflect Solomon’s commitment to bold cinema and voices often left on the margins.

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