In Memoriam: Nicholas D. Dimancescu

I've never met nor had any sort of correspondence with Nicholas Dimancescu, but I still remember the moment I found out about his films, a couple of years ago. I'd been, history-trawling on Wikipedia, reading stub after stub about Romania's involvement in the Second World War. At some point, I had a bunch of tabs about the aerial campaigns open. I wanted some visuals so I checked YouTube and came up on a film he made, Knights of The Sky: Air War Over Romania. Needless to say I took a break from Wikipedia and remained captivated for about an hour, watching the documentary. Afterwards I made sure to bookmark the site of Kogainon Films, hopeful that with a young passionate director in charge, there would be lots more great material to come.

Today, I found out that Nicholas died a year ago in Romania, while he was shooting a documentary about the Dacians -our ancestors. To say that reading the news was upsetting is an understatement. Here's a guy who wasn't even born in Romania, but who felt such a strong attachment to his ancestral homeland that he dedicated his life to promoting its rich history. The truth is, part of what made the news particularly hard to stomach is that I can relate so well. I'm eternally grateful that I spent my formative years in Canada, but like Nicholas, my dream is to put the country I love on the map. That he was already living this dream makes it a bittersweet tragedy. He gave us a but a taste of the things to come.

Often in history we find that tragic events serve as catalysts for positive change, be it through inspiration, innovation, or a sense of resilience. I think that Nicholas started something that won't stop with his passing. He directed three films that will remain timeless, that bring all of us Romanians together in our shared history. Our politicians divide us, but the power of a vision like Nicholas' is stronger than any political party and its effects are more potent. I'm convinced that I'm not alone when I say I'm very hopeful that his legacy of promoting Romania through film continues.

Comments

novacNovember 27, 2012
I think it s a good thing to promote Romania through films, not necessary hyper positive ones, but anyway that is not my point. I noticed in the last years abroad that more and more Romanians living in other countries focus on this historical mythical part of Romania. Why do you think that happens?
And thank you btw. for the article the guy has some good shots.
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