Biography
Alexandru Stanescu graduated from the National Theater and Film University of Bucharest, Film and Multimedia Department. While a Film School undergraduate, he produced, wrote, directed, edited, and sound-designed the short fiction film Clipa asta minunata (2002) (This Enchanted Moment), loosely based on a story by Mircea Eliade. In the college years, he was awarded for best editing at Tbilisi, Georgia (2005), as well as for best animation shorts (CineMAiubit, Bucharest, 2003, 2004).
In 2008, Stanescu directed Generatia Desenelor Animate (2008) (Cartoons Generation), a no-budget short documentary about the Romanian cartoon lovers of the late eighties and nineties. It was showcased at The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), alongside an essay about his native city - Bucurestiul traieste! (2008) (Bucharest Lives!). Another of his shorts -Vacanta la tara (2008) (Holiday In The Country), using footage from a family trip outside Bucharest, was completed later that year.
Stanescu's love for film often blends with other passions - fine arts, photography, and anthropology, in various projects. For example, a written study on his grandparents' ethnic history used interviews for a documentary on the same subject (Intoarcerea acasa - 2010, a Romania - Republic of Macedonia co-production). Stanescu earned a Master's degree from The Center of Excellence in Image Studies (CESI, Bucharest) in 2009.
Since 2008, Alexandru Stanescu has edited documentaries for Trinitas TV, Bucharest. He independently produced and directed various experimental shorts: The Archaic Smile, 2009, Damian (2009) (2009), No News (2010), Gran Vía - European Dreaming (2014). In 2018, he filmed the nonfiction short Despre noi, la 100 (About us, at 100), where he set out to capture the perspectives and feelings of everyday Romanians regarding their country, on the threshold of the 100 years Celebration since The Great Union of 1918.
In 2020, Stanescu finished the documentary 89: Oglinzi si fum (2020) (89: Smoke and Mirrors), a decade-in-the-making, one-filmmaker-odyssey through the labyrinth of the 1989 Romanian Revolution memory and through the puzzle of events and coincidences demanding to be solved. Since 2022, he edits and produces films for TVR (The Romanian Television). In 2024, he finished a doctoral research, using an extensive collection of interviews that delve into the daily life of Romanians under communism.
Stanescu also is a passionate essayist, film critic, and researcher of the recent past (some of his articles are to be found on Researchgate, Liternet, Ziarul Lumina, the Paseist blog (paseist.wordpress.com).
