When Maria Tanase died in 1963 in the height of her career, hundreds of thousand of people filled the streets of Bucharest to follow her funeral procession. Fifty years after her death, everybody in Romania, even the young generation, knows her songs.

With her deep voice and her unparalleled dramatic style of interpreting, Maria represents for Romania what Edith Piaf was for France, Nana Mouskori for Greece, or Amalia Rodriguez for Portugal: she embodies the essence of Romanian songs.

From the haunting blues songs called doinas, to the Gypsy mahala songs of the suburbs, the film brings to life the extreme emotions of Maria's music- from desperation and bitterness to elation and intoxicated joy-and makes them resonate with original images of Romania today: countryside, traditional musicians, remnants of the Belle epoque Bucharest, various life scenes. Mixing the music with some events of Maria's tumultous life story from her hay day in the glamourous 30s, to WWII and the first decades of communism, the film takes us on a journey between the past of unique archive materials and interviews, and Romania today still vibrating to her music.

Documentary

Length: 52'