Ion Filotti Cantacuzino or Ion I. Cantacuzino (November 7, 1908, Bucharest, Romania – August 27, 1975, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian film producer, writer and

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

Biographic data

Ion Filotti Cantacuzino, born in Bucharest on November 7, 1908, was the son of prince Ion Cantacuzino and of actress

Maria Filotti Maria Filotti (9 October 1883, Batogu, Brăila, Batogu, Brăila County, Romania – 5 November 1956, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian actress . She was described as one of the "prestigious actors of the great realistic school" and the "directres ...

. He studied medicine at the

Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy ( ro, Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie „Carol Davila”) or University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, commonly known by the abbreviation UMFCD, is a public health sciences university i ...

and philosophy at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

he graduated from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

' Faculty of Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, He married Elena Warthiadi and had two sons: historian Gheorghe I. Cantacuzino and actor Şerban Cantacuzino.

Activity as writer and film critic

His first publication is the short story "De Amore Paradox" published first in 1929 in the magazine "Excelsior". It was reprinted as a separate volume in 1935 with 18 illustrations by W. Siegfried. Interested in

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

he started his activity as film critic in 1931 when he was appointed by "Radio România" and started the first broadcast critics in Romania. He also contributed with film critics to various Romanian magazines. In 1934 he also wrote his first screenplay for a documentary film "Romania" – directed by

Paul Călinescu Paul Călinescu (23 August 1902 – 25 March 2000) was a Romanian film director and screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, ...

and Jean Mihail. In 1935 he published his first volume about films: "The Fairytale factory" ( ro, Uzina de basme) The same year, he published his only play "Dri-dri" which was awarded the prize of the "Society of Romanian Dramaturgists" (Societatea Autorilor Dramatici Români) for one-act plays.

Film producer and director

In 1941, Ion Cantacuzino was appointed director of the "National Office of Cinematography" which had been created in the late 1930s. The main activity of the Office was to release newsreels about the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Besides coordinating the activity of the office, Ion Cantacuzino wrote the screenplays, directed and produced documentaries having cultural subjects: "The Peleş Castle" (Castelul Peleş) – 1941 or "Old Customs" (Datini din străbuni) – 1942 or related to the war: "Romania in war against bolshevism" (România în lupta contra bolşevismului) – 1941, "Our sacred war" (Războiul nostru sfânt) – 1942, "We" (Noi) – 1942. Ion Cantacuzino's ambitions were however related to the production of feature films. In 1943 he produced the film "Stormy Night" (O noapte furtunoasă), a comedy based on a play by

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...

directed by

Jean Georgescu Jean Georgescu (25 February 1904 – 8 April 1994) was a Romanian film director, actor, and screenwriter. Born in Bucharest, Romania (where he also died), he was most notable for directing films including ''In Our Village'' (1951, in collaboration ...

. He then created the Romanian-Italian film production and distribution company "Cineromit". The first coproduction was "Odessa in Flames" (

Odessa in fiamme ''Odessa in Flames'' (Italian: ''Odessa in fiamme'', Romanian: ''Odessa în flăcări'') is a 1942 Italian-Romanian propaganda war film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Maria Cebotari, Carlo Ninchi and Filippo Scelzo. The film is about the ...

) directed by

Carmine Gallone Carmine Gallone (10 September 1885 – 11 March 1973) was an early Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist propaganda and historical revisionism. Considered one of Itali ...

on a screenplay by

Gherardo Gherardi Gherardo Gherardi (1891–1949) was an Italian screenwriter.Landy p.66 He co-wrote the screenplay for Vittorio De Sica's 1948 neorealist classic ''Bicycle Thieves''. Originally a playwright, he worked prolifically in the Italian film industry fol ...

and Nicolae Kiriţescu. The next production of "Cineromit" was scheduled to be produced in Romania. A second film, "The white squadron" (Squadriglia bianca), directed by Romanian director Ion Sava was released in 1944. The same year, Ion Cantacuzino, as producer, selected Jean Georgescu to direct the film "A Winter Night's Dream" (Visul unei nopţi de iarnă) based on a play by

Tudor Mușatescu Tudor Mușatescu (; February 22, 1903 – November 4, 1970) was a Romanian playwright and short story writer, best known for his humorous prose. Biography Mușatescu was born in Câmpulung-Muscel to a family of middle-class intellectuals &mdash ...

. Due to the war, the film could be completed only in 1945. Another project which Ion Cantacuzino was negotiating with the Italians was a historical drama on the life of

Stephen the Great Stephen III of Moldavia, most commonly known as Stephen the Great ( ro, Ștefan cel Mare; ; died on 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 ...

, based on a screenplay by

Camil Petrescu Camil Petrescu (; 9/21 April 1894 – 14 May 1957) was a Romanian playwright, novelist, philosopher and poet. He marked the end of the traditional novel era and laid the foundation of the modern novel era in Romania. Life Petrescu was born in Bu ...

, starring

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 in Cagliari – 5 November 1979 in Rome) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Al ...

and

Alida Valli Alida Maria Laura, ''Freiin'' Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli (or simply Valli), was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, s ...

. This project had to be abandoned due to the war. Ion Cantacuzino was also planning to create, in cooperation with the Italians a center for the production of feature films in Romania. The plans for the construction of the center had been designed by architect

Octav Doicescu Octav is a Romanian male given name that may refer to: *Octav Băncilă (1872–1944), Romanian realist painter *Octav Botez (1884–1943), Romanian literary critic and historian *Octav Botnar (1913–1998), businessman * Octav Cozmâncă (born 194 ...

and the Italian government had promised to provide the equipment. The project could not be finalized due to the war.

Activity after 1945

After the rise to power of the communist regime in Romania, Ion Cantacuzino was blacklisted, because of both his aristocratic background and his antisoviet attitude during the war years. He was arrested for a short time. After his release, he reverted to his second profession and worked for the rest of his life as a psychiatrist at the "Brâncovenesc Hospital" in Bucharest. However, he did not give up his activities related to the entertainment industry. He translatated various plays for theatrical performances such as

Eduardo De Filippo Eduardo De Filippo (; 24 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and '' Napoli Milionaria''. Consid ...

Filumena Marturano ''Filumena Marturano'' (, ), sometime performed in English as ''The Best House in Naples'', is a play written in 1946 by Italian playwright, actor and poet Eduardo De Filippo. It is the basis for the 1950 Spanish language Argentine musical film ...

and

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

Heartbreak House ''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...

. In the 1960s, without abandoning his profession as psychiatrist, Ion Cantacuzino was able to publish again. He finalized the volumes of memoirs which his mother, actress

had not been able to complete before her death. He also wrote a book on the history of Romanian cinema "Moments from the past of Romanian film" (1965).Magdalena Popa – Între teatru şi comorile lumii aş alege teatrul – Adevărul literar si artistic, November 11, 2007

Death

Ion Filotti Cantacuzino died on August 27, 1975. He is interred at

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

in Bucharest. After his death a last film was produced based on one of his screenplays: "The insane forest" (Pădurea nebună), released in 1982, based on a novel by

Zaharia Stancu Zaharia Stancu (; October 7, 1902 – December 5, 1974) was a Romanian prose writer, novelist, poet, and philosopher. He was also the director of the National Theatre Bucharest, the President of the Writers' Union of Romania, and a titular memb ...

. In his memory, the "Association of Film Critics" has named "Ion Cantacuzino Award" its distinction for film journalism at the "International Festival for Independent Film Anonimul" organized each year in

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; hu, Sepsiszentgyörgy or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; yi, סנט דזשארדזש; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is the capital city of Covasna County, Romania. Located in the central part of the country and in the historical regio ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantacuzino, Ion University of Paris alumni 1908 births 1975 deaths Romanian psychiatrists Romanian film producers Romanian film directors Romanian screenwriters Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century screenwriters Romanian expatriates in France