Bucharest, the night of 22 December 1989, a confusing and unsettling revolutionary night, in which army units transmit obscure and ever-changing code messages through radio transceivers, while insurgents occupy the national television declaring victory. Fighting is on-going between the security forces loyal to the Ceauşescu regime and protesters and army units that have joined the Romanian revolution. This night is exceptionally ‘dark’: confusion, disorientation, exhaustion and paranoia reign. A radio broadcaster proclaims: “Tonight nobody is allowed to sleep in Romania. We must be out on the streets to prevent any hostile acts. The night is the friend of the enemies of the people. Take it to the streets, my dear Romanians” [excerpt taken from Radu Muntean’s film Hîrtia va fi albastră / The paper will be blue, 2006].
Ⓒ Ger Duijzings. Attribution of photos: Crowd on a square -- The National Museum of Romanian History, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Revolutia_Bucuresti_1989_007.JPG); Snipers with PSL rifles -- Vlach facts, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PSL_during_the_Romanian_Revolution_of_1989.jpg). Muntean’s movie (with english subtitles) can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0XfKQ0QdeQ
