I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians

“I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians” - these were the words spoken by Romania’s military dictator Marshal Ion Antonescu in the Council of Ministers in the summer of 1941 that started the ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front. Radu Jude’s resonant feature, “I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS”, chronicles a young theatre director’s efforts to stage an accurate re-enactment of the Odessa Massacre - in which Romanian soldiers slaughtered tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews - despite the municipal government’s attempt to censor the director’s efforts. Her choice angers a city official who threatens to close the production because of its “anti-Romanian” take on history. However, the reaction to the staged play is one that neither anticipated. This internationally-acclaimed dark satire is a timely statement about the consequences of selective and willful amnesia on a society fueled by populist sentiments.