The World according to Ion B
Director -
Countries
Duration 60 min
Synopsis
The film starts in 2008. Ion B is a 62 years old homeless man. His bed is a filthy foam mattress at the bottom of a garbage chute, in a bloc located in a decent neighbourhood in Bucharest. In exchange for sorting their garbage, the landlords allow Ion to live in their garbage room. In his “home” Ion recovers what others get rid of. He reads all the books, all the magazines and the newspapers that other people throw away. When he was young, Ion dreamed of becoming a film director. In the 70’s he started creating collages that he refers to as “my films”. But that is the secret he only shares with people he considers clever enough to enjoy and understand his craft. Ion’s main interest isn’t to become rich, but he only wishes a decent place to live and a bycicle. In December 2007, Dan Popescu, a 33 years old gallery owner, heard by chance about Ion and his secret and decided to visit him. The homeless man showed Popescu 1 000 collages he had made between the 70’s and the 90’s. The young man was overwhelmed. Ion’s art relates to surrealism and pop art from a time when such artistic manifestations were forbidden and not accessible to Romanians at all. Ironically, the self-taught artist even thought he invented collage, as he had never seen this art form before. Popescu is sure that he is being confronted with the “once in lifetime career luck of any gallery owner” and decides to introduce the homeless man and his art to the official art circuit. Today, only one year later, Ion lives in a decent place and is one of the most important contemporary Romanian artists. His art is exhibited in London, Paris and other cities along with works by Andy Warhol or Marcel Duchamp. The film shows the journey and transformation of Ion B. from the tramp to the world known artist Ion Barladeanu. It is not his outer change that the film focuses on, but Ion Barladeanu’s inner strength and own truth that he has sticked to for a lifetime.
The film starts in 2008. Ion B is a 62 years old homeless man. His bed is a filthy foam mattress at the bottom of a garbage chute, in a bloc located in a decent neighbourhood in Bucharest. In exchange for sorting their garbage, the landlords allow Ion to live in their garbage room. In his “home” Ion recovers what others get rid of. He reads all the books, all the magazines and the newspapers that other people throw away. When he was young, Ion dreamed of becoming a film director. In the 70’s he started creating collages that he refers to as “my films”. But that is the secret he only shares with people he considers clever enough to enjoy and understand his craft. Ion’s main interest isn’t to become rich, but he only wishes a decent place to live and a bycicle. In December 2007, Dan Popescu, a 33 years old gallery owner, heard by chance about Ion and his secret and decided to visit him. The homeless man showed Popescu 1 000 collages he had made between the 70’s and the 90’s. The young man was overwhelmed. Ion’s art relates to surrealism and pop art from a time when such artistic manifestations were forbidden and not accessible to Romanians at all. Ironically, the self-taught artist even thought he invented collage, as he had never seen this art form before. Popescu is sure that he is being confronted with the “once in lifetime career luck of any gallery owner” and decides to introduce the homeless man and his art to the official art circuit. Today, only one year later, Ion lives in a decent place and is one of the most important contemporary Romanian artists. His art is exhibited in London, Paris and other cities along with works by Andy Warhol or Marcel Duchamp. The film shows the journey and transformation of Ion B. from the tramp to the world known artist Ion Barladeanu. It is not his outer change that the film focuses on, but Ion Barladeanu’s inner strength and own truth that he has sticked to for a lifetime.