No./18 A real-life All The President’s Men (in Romania)
Shocking new documentary Collective shows how even an unassuming sports journalist can bring down a government
IN 2015, A fire broke out during a rock gig at the Bucharest club Colectiv. Twenty-seven people were killed that night, but another 38 people died later in the following weeks, due to substandard hospital conditions, watered-down disinfectant, and repeated lies by the government. The scandal, which is the subject of a new documentary feature, Collective, forced the Romanian Prime Minister to resign. Improbably, it was exposed by a sports newspaper, the Gazeta Sporturilor, which mainly focuses on football.
“They've done investigative journalism for 20 years,” explains Alexander Nanau, the film’s director. “Just in the sports world. [The journalist] Cătălin Tolontan had brought down sports ministers that had to go to jail for corruption. That’s why he started to investigate the healthcare system and the authorities — because of a moral obligation. It was really a national trauma.”
Romanians were stunned by the revelations. The film shows footage of maggots crawling in patients’ sores, while corruption was found at every level — even doctors accepted bribes. “We all tended to believe that the state just works. So it was shocking to realise that it really depends on this corrupt network, all resulting in a complete lack of humanity. It was a learning curve for me also.”
Gazeta Sporturilor was initially reluctant to have a film crew in their newsroom, concerned about protecting whistleblowers. But Nanau’s team worked nimbly, with a tiny crew — “I was either alone, or just with the sound guy and an assistant” — witnessing the exposé firsthand. (That sound guy, Mihai Grecea, was actually a survivor of the fire; his involvement in the project proved important. “The fact that he was part of the team helped [survivors] to trust me.”)
The paper’s investigation led to mass protests and, ultimately, the resignation of the entire government, though they soon returned to power. Is Nanau optimistic that politics has changed? “No,” he says, bluntly. “The day we premiered [in Romania], the last Minister Of Health [Sorina Pintea] was arrested for taking a bribe.” But the scandal has changed Romania. “What did change is the press became much more professional. And the citizens changed. There’s a really vibrant civil society. People know how to look for the truth.” Even a sports periodical, it seems, can reshape a country. COLLECTIVE IS IN CINEMAS FROM 20 NOVEMBER