The Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow battled her way into Oscar history books on Sunday, topping her movie’s best film honor with her own Academy Award for directing to become the first woman ever to earn that distinction.

The low-budget film, which has earned $20 million at box offices, picked up six awards in all and bested “Avatar,” directed by Bigelow’s ex-husband James Cameron. “Avatar” is the top-grossing movie of all time with $2.5 billion.

The gritty drama about a squad of bomb-defusing specialists also secured writer Mark Boal the Academy Award for original screenplay and claimed honors for film editing, sound editing and mixing.

“This really is, there’s no other way to describe it, it’s the moment of a lifetime,” said Bigelow, the first female best director in the Academy Awards’ 82-year history.

For its part, “Avatar” walked away with three Oscars, but in technical categories — visual effects, cinematography and art direction. Veteran Jeff...

In a ceremony on Monday held at the Studio Cinema, members of the Romanian Film Union handed director Sergiu Nicolaescu a special award for his 2009 movie activity. This is the first time such a distinction is given to a national filmmaker. UCIN has decided to “grant this special award which is really crucial for national cinematic culture,” UCIN head Mihnea Gheorghiu said, who added that Sergiu Nicolescu’s work is one that “ranges on five decades and is of enormous importance for Romanian cinema. The 80 year old director thanked union members, saying: “I couldn’t have done it without your help, without the public’s support.”

After the award ceremony, Nicolaescu’s 1963 film “Memories from a Rose” was shown. The same special distinction was granted on directors Laurentiu Damian and Ioan Lazar. UCIN 2009 awards were this year granted for both short and feature film. Director Corneliu Porumboiu was awarded the best feature award for his critically acclaimed “Police, Adjective”. The short film award...

Movie awards season is finally over, thank goodness! And all the Hollywood leading dames and sirs can go home and go on leaving their million dollar lives. Lately, Oscars have had a growing tendency of being more about politics and backstage games than about the seventh art. The 2010 edition was the most outrageously obvious in this sense. I promise I will never lose another four hours of my life watching Oscars again!

So, where to begin? First, there was the matter of this year’s Oscar presenters, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin; both of whom are nice, old-school comedians in the good Hollywood style… but did not function as a couple. Their sole purpose for the evening seemed to be offending everyone of their fellow colleagues and especially of the evening’s nominees. I mean, it is quite murky sense of humour to get up on stage and say: ”Hey, look, it’s that damn Hellen Mirren!” and then come up and say: “No, you meant Dame Hellen Mirren!”

This is just a sample of new-age Hollywood mordant sense of humour, but they...

Spanish director Carlos Saura had a notable presence in Bucharest over the weekend, as special guest of the Flamenco Classic Festival, a one month event that concluded on March 7. The director introduced his latest movie venture, “Io, Don Giovanni” to the Romanian public in a screening held at Elvira Popescu Cinema. In 1957-1958, Saura created his first film (Cuenca). In 1966, he was honoured at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival, where he received the Silver Bear for Best Director for his film “La Caza.” In 1967, his film Peppermint Frappe also received the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival. Saura has become known for making movies centred around traditional Latino dance. His Flamenco Trilogy of the 1980s includes Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding), Carmen, and El amor brujo. He later made the movies Flamenco (1995), Tango (1998), and Fados (2007). In 1990, he received the Goya Award for the best director and best script for ¡Ay, Carmela!. He was chosen as director for the official film of the 1992 Olympic...

On March 11, for the first time in a Capital concert, Jean Luc Ponty will perform at the Palace Hall. The French musician will be accompanied by William Lecomte on keyboards and Guy Akwa Nsangue on bass. Ponty is a well-known French virtuoso violinist and jazz composers, born into a family of classical. In 1969, Frank Zappa composed the music for Jean-Luc’s solo album King Kong (Blue Note). In 1972, Elton John invited Ponty to contribute to his Honky Chateau album. One day after Ponty, special guest at the Hard Rock Café will be legendary Pink Floyd guitarist Snowy White. Snowy White is one of a handful of classic blues-oriented British electric guitar players - musicians whose sound, technique and style has echoed the originality of the blues with the excitement of contemporary rock. In the autumn of 1976 he was invited to tour America and Europe with Pink Floyd as their first augmenting musician, a gig which took up most of his time throughout 1977. In 1978 the band’s keyboard player Rick Wright asked him to play guitar on his solo album, entitled ‘Wet...

Eitetsu Hayashi will perform on October 20 at the Palace Hall in Bucharest, organizers inform by press release. The event is put together by Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Japan Foundation, with the support of Japan’s Embassy. The best up-to-date taiko musician’s concert will be highlighted by Isao Matsushita’s ‘Hi-Ten-Yu’ - A Concerto for Japanese drum and Orchestra,’ as well as traditional drum readings of famous Romanian composers, from George Enescu to Tiberiu Olah and Ciprian Porumbescu. Tickets range from RON 50 to 180 and can be bought in the Diverta network. Eitetsu Hayashi, the internationally acclaimed Japanese musician ranked as the world’s leading taiko player and one of Japan’s foremost living cultural assets, has over the past 34 years led an international musical revival of these instruments. His performances have been credited with bringing a musical fulfilment that can surpass that of a full orchestra – ranging from serene tranquillity to the rhythmic, roaring thunder created by his giant 300kg O-Daiko drum.

Eitetsu Hayashi, was born in Hiroshima in...

The National Theatre Festival (FNT) will present, in its 20th edition, the latest play directed by Silviu Purcarete – Le Roi se meurt (Exit the King), by Eugene Ionesco, an international production. The show premieres on September 15, within the Ex Ponto Festival in Slovenia, and will be presented, then, within the FNT, before touring to France, Italy, Montenegro, Macedonia and Croatia. This new production will mark, in January 2011, the inauguration of the new building hosting the Esch Theatre in Luxembourg.

A household name in European theatre, Silviu Purcarete chose to direct, in 2010, Ionesco’s Le Roi se meurt, with an international cast, after having tackled, successfully, in 2007, the latter’s Macbett, at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The international production, thus, affords the director the opportunity of a renewed encounter with Ionesco, but also with composer Vasile Sirli, one of his close collaborators, and with artists in France, Slovenia and Luxembourg. “Silviu Purcarete takes on this play which, up to now, had seemed fairly alien to him, and I’m trying to...

The Palace Hall will sound of the best in jazz sounds this fall, as on October 29 as of 8 pm, a unique and first-time concert featuring Herbie Hancock will delight quality music fans.

Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music. Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while still maintaining his unique, unmistakable voice. The musician’s success at expanding the possibilities of musical thought has placed him in the annals of this century’s visionaries. With an illustrious career spanning five decades, he continues to amaze audiences and never ceases to expand the public’s vision of what music, particularly jazz, is all about today. Hancock’s creative path has moved fluidly between almost every development in acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B since 1960. He has attained an enviable balance of commercial and artistic success, arriving at a point in his career where he ventures into every new project motivated purely by the desire to expand the boundaries of his creativity.

There are few artists in the music industry who have...

Those who are attached to blood and gore and to the intentional B- category style of Robert Rodriguez will be able to rejoice as of this weekend, with “Machete”. The film was co-written, produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. It is an expansion of a fake trailer that was released together with Rodriguez’ and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 Grindhouse. Machete continues the B movie and exploitation style of Grindhouse, including in part the same footage. Danny Trejo stars in his first lead role as the title character. He also played the role of a character named Machete in the Spy Kids franchise, which Rodriguez directed. However, they are not intended to be in the same fictional universe. The story revolves around Machete (Danny Trejo), a former “Mexican Federale” turned renegade. After a shakedown with a druglord (Steven Seagal), Machete roams Texas looking to do yard work in exchange for money. Michael Benz (Jeff Fahey), a local businessman and spin doctor, explains to Machete that the corrupt Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro) is sending hundreds of illegal...

Films selected in the Balkanimation feature film, international shorts, students’ films, Romanian films and Balkan film competitions will be analysed by two juries made up of resonant names in European cinema, invited to Bucharest to vote the winners of the fifth edition of Anim’est – the Romanian Animation Film Festival.

According to a release quoted by Agerpres, those who will vote the winners of the Best Short Film, Best Feature Film, as well as of the Anim’est Trophy, offered to a film in the International Short Feature Film section, will be Romanian film critic Mihai Chirilov – artistic director of the Transylvania International Film Festival and curator of the New York Romanian Film Festival, the Italian Simone Massi – director of “Memories of Dogs”, winner of the Anim’est 2007 Best Short award, Phil Mulloy – one of the most successful British indie animation directors of the past decades, the Portuguese Regina Pessoa – the one who consecrated a unique animation technique, the winner of several awards for her films, present in important festivals worldwide, and the...

Exhibition on Second Vienna Award, at Alba Iulia National Unification Museum

The National Unification Museum in Alba Iulia hosts an exhibition of documents, photographs and maps on the 1940 Second Vienna Award and the atrocities that Transylvanian Romanians were subjected to by the Hungarian authorities, Mediafax reports. A spokesman for the museum, Liviu Zgarciu, told the agency on Monday, that the exhibition, titled “1940 – A Tragic Year in Romanian History. 70 Years since the Second Vienna Award”, comprises maps, documents, charts and photographs from the archive. “The exhibition proposes to evoke, by means of documents, maps, charts and photographs, the dramatic moments that Romania faced in the summer of 1940. These include, first and foremost, the Second Vienna Award, the international act of August 30, 1940, following which Romania was forced, by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, to relinquish almost half of Transylvania’s territory to Horthy’s Hungary,” Zgarciu stated. The exhibition is running until October 25.

Byzantine concerts by the...

Mad Men, meanwhile, marked its third consecutive win in the best TV drama series category. “We can’t believe we are here. We want to thank the (Television) Academy for recognising us again,” said the show’s creator Matthew Weiner.

The 62nd annual Primetime Emmy Awards, held in Los Angeles, took on a fresh look today as a slew of new shows dominated the television industry’s highest honours. Seven of the eight major acting awards went to either newcomers or different stars than last year. Jim Parsons, the geeky physicist on The Big Bang Theory, was named the best comedy actor, ending the two-year Emmy reign of 30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin.

Edie Falco took home her first comedy actress Emmy for Nurse Jackie, beating Australian actress Toni Collette. Kyra Sedgwick won her first Emmy after five tries for playing a tough police detective in drama series The Closer. “You think you don’t have a chance in hell of winning after five times ... I’m beyond my wildest dreams,” Sedgwick said after accepting her award. Even the reality competition slot had a new champion, with Top...

What the Venice film festival lacks in star power this year it hopes to make up for with an unusually young list of directors and the appearance of some of Hollywood’s more enigmatic figures. With the irrepressible Quentin Tarantino heading the jury that hands out the coveted Golden Lion at the end of the Sept. 1-11 event, it is fitting that mavericks and misfits more than movie royalty look set to steal the headlines. “In a way Venice can still hold itself up and say ‘we’ve got the edgier American people coming, as you have Vincent Gallo and Monte Hellman, for example,” said Jay Weissberg, film critic for trade publication Variety who is based in Italy. “It makes it look as if they are holding up the art side of cinema.”

It is a calculated gamble at a time when Venice, the world’s oldest film festival and one of its most prestigious, is struggling to fight off competition from Toronto, which overlaps with Venice and features many of the same movies.

Its location in North America, relatively low costs and the presence of so many industry executives looking to deal...

Mamaia 2010 Music Festival top prize won by Daniela Mihaela Cojocaru

Daniela Mihaela Cojocaru won the Mamaia 2010 Trophy, granted in the 40th edition of the Pop Music Festival, after having performed “Trurli”, composed by Vasile Vasilache, Mediafax reports. In the Performance section, the top prize was won by Cristina Florentina Vasiu, who sang “Suflet gol” (Empty Heart – songwriter: Petru Mircea), the 2nd prize went to Rodica Elena Tudor, singing “Tu n-ai avut curaj” (You didn’t have the courage – songwriter: Serban Georgescu), and the third to Cristina Andreea Stroe, singing “Dor de viata” (Lust for Life – from Aura Urziceanu’s repertoire). In the Songwriting section, the first prize went to the song “La umbra ta” (In your shade) – song and lyrics by Dragos Dinca, sung by Lucia Carmen Dumitrescu. The second prize was claimed by “Misterioasa mea” (My Mystery Girl) – song by Nicolae Caragia, lyrics by Daniela Doroftei, singer Mihai Bajenaru, while the third was won by “O viata de artist” (An Artist’s Life) – song by Marcel Dragomir, lyrics by Eugen Dumitru, singer...

The exhibit entitled in its world pilgrimages simply “Romania” will be shown at the peasant Museum as of September 2 under the name My Romanian Journal. It will run only for a week and it comprises of 130 photographs. “I love voyages. Voyages where the going from one place to the other informs, allows one to go deeper. One day, in May of the year 1958, it became clear to me that to follow the Danube from its source to its end was one of those inevitable voyages,” reads a quote from famous photographer Inge Morath on the exhibition prospectus. Inge Morath’s dream of travelling the length of the Danube River, begun in 1958, was not realized until 1995. In 1958, six of the nations bordering the river were led by Communist governments which placed severe limitations on Western photojournalists. As she later wrote, “Either one was refused a visa right away, or one got one only good for transit, or for a stay of one to three days but with restrictions as to the places one could visit.” Morath was denied even a transit visa to Hungary. To her surprise, however, she received permission to...

Leonardo DiCaprio was granted a restraining order against a Romanian woman who claims she’s married to the actor and even carrying his child - whom she says is Jesus, Fox News reported. According to documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court, DiCaprio claims Livia Bistriceanu has repeatedly attempted to contact him through emails ... and has even tried to visit with him in person. DiCaprio, in the docs, claims Bistriceanu “maintains a delusional belief that she is my wife and carrying my child, Jesus.” DiCaprio says in his declaration, “I am frightened of Ms. Bistriceanu and feel that my personal safety, and the personal safety of those around me, is in jeopardy.” DiCaprio also notes that Bistriceanu knows where he lives and has shown “a willingness to make physical contact with me regardless of the consequences.” Bistriceanu has been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from the...

Professor Andrei Marga, writer Mircea Cartarescu, historian Vladimir Tismaneanu, actor Ion Caramitru and writer Mircea Dinescu claim the first positions in a ranking of the 30 most publicised intellectuals in Romania. The ranking was made by MediaIQ based on the monitoring of 780 Romanian media sources, between February 15 and August 20. Andrei Marga, rector of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca and former minister of Education, boasted the most frequent appearances in the media in the past six months – 385 appearances in 77 media sources, mostly in the written, print and online, press. Cartarescu, deemed by the press “the best-selling and most widely-translated contemporary Romanian author”, made 325 appearances in the past six months, in 97 media sources. Historian Tismaneanu ranks third, with 319 appearances, followed by actor Caramitru (308) and writer Dinescu (304). Positions 6 to 10 are claimed, as follows, by Andrei Plesu, Horia Roman Patapievici, Gabriel Liiceanu, Razvan Theodorescu and Dan Puric (under 300 appearances each). The ranking of the first 20 names in...

The “Peninsula” Festival, which is running from Thursday to Sunday, will bring together over 70 artists, including the likes of Korn, Tricky, Europe, Gorillaz Sound System, The Rasmus, Above & Beyond or Fedde Le Grand.

August 27: Gorillaz Sound System, The Rasmus, Fedde Le Grand, Parov Stelar Band, Quimby, Nero, Charlie, Compact, Kicsillag, Directia 5, Pokolgép, Suie Paparude, Dan Helciug & Spitalul de urgenta, the Model, Junkie & Hawky, Ultimul Rand, Blazzaj

August 28: Omega, Europe, Phoenis, Tricky, Hernan Cattaneo, Noisia, Butterflies in My Stomach, Che Sudaka, Anima Sound System, Magna Cum Laude, Irie Maffia, Grimus, Sarmalele Reci, Gojira, Coyote, Hot X, DJ Döme, Livio & Roby

August 29: Korn, Above & Beyond, Dub FX, Tankcsapda, Zdob si Zdub, N.O.H.A., Belga, Taxi, Subscribe, Nora Naughty, Beatrice, Tündérground, Puya, Mike Godoroja & Blue Spirit feat. Marius Mihalache, Magashegyi Underground, Partizan, Igor Do’urden, DJ Almund,...

Directed by Sergio Pablos, Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, With: Steve Carell, Shown at: Movieplex Cinema Plaza, The Light Cinema, Hollywood Multiplex

Borrowing heavily and intelligently from Pixar and Looney Tunes, Despicable Me is a surprisingly thoughtful, family-friendly treat with a few surprises of its own. This dark family comedy features the repulsive Gru (voice of Steve Carell), a villain whose plot to steal the moon goes awry when he adopts three female orphans - and affection softens his heart. The story is hilariously over-the-top, yet understandable from a child’s perspective (kids will crack up when Gru uses a freeze ray on other customers to cut in line at a coffee bar). Despicable has some hysterical moments, thanks to Russell Brand as Gru’s henchman and Jason Segel as his bumbling rival. Another standout: Julie Andrews scores as Gru’s overbearing mother, whose lack of maternal love made him do anything to get attention. Despicable Me also charms with a slightly different from the norm animation style. Drawn with a nod to the darker elements of animation’s...

The painting exhibition titled “Return to the Springs. The Vlach Home – The Romanian Home”, signed by the artist Graziella Doicescu, opened earlier this week, at the Folk Costume Museum, a section of the “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum, to be found in the Palace of Parliament.

In the exhibition, the artist reclaims, in 37 works, oils on canvas, her double ancestry: Vlach and Romanian. At the entrance, the visitor is met by two paintings representing the Vlach peasant, holding a “carlibana” (a shepherd’s hook) and, respectively, the Romanian peasant, wearing the traditional costume of the Apuseni Mountains folk.

The paintings depict daily-life scenes: young Vlach women – “On a visit”, “The Carrier”, “Houses and Woman from Aminciu”, “The Guests’ Room”, “The Baiasa Bridge”, “Houses from Muloviste”, “A piece of a Vlach village in the Pind Mountains”, “Houses under snow in Deniscu”. The exhibits also include a work representing the Bitolia High School. The “Romanian” side of the exhibition features houses from various regions: Oltenia, the Banat, Apuseni,...

The play “Captivi de Craciun”/ “Prisoners on Christmas”, a medium feature film, directed by Iulia Rugina and written by Ana Agopian, Oana Rasuceanu and Iulia Rugina, will be screened, on Friday, August 27, starting 21:00, at the Tago Mago Club. Presented in a world preview at the NexT International Film Festival (April 2010) and selected within the Romanian Film Days competition of the Transylvania International Film Festival (May-June 2010), the film was, on each occasion, a tremendous success with audiences. The play will be presented alongside the feature films “Vineri, in jur de 11”/ “Friday, about 11”, by Iulia Rugina, and “Ela” and “Nunta lui Oli”/ “Oli’s Wedding”, directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu.

“Captivi de Craciun” tells the tale of four characters who don’t know each other and who are forced to spend Christmas Eve in a small-town railway station, far from the people and the places where they have to and wish to spend Christmas, waiting for a train snowed up many miles away. As the hours go by and the train, it seems, will never come, Madalina, Cristi, Oxana and...

The exhibition entitles Urban Reveries focuses on the artist’s working city, New York and is a multimedia display. Meret combines painting with printmaking techniques, he works with photography and video, and he recently started to use completely new and surprising materials.

Sasha Meret was born in Romania in 1955, of Romanian and Russian parents. He started to study art at an early age, and earned a BA in 1974 and an MA in 1979. After his arrival in New York, he studied printmaking with Tony Harrison at Columbia University. He currently lives and works in New York City, and he had exhibits in Europe, Japan, China and the U.S. His work encompasses a wide range of techniques and styles. He combines painting, drawing, photography, printmaking with digital art and works in a variety of styles, from representational to abstract. His imagery reflects his spiritual explorations, blending European, African, Asian, and esoteric symbolism in a highly personal visual language. He alternates figuration with abstraction in search for a balance between ideas and emotions. With his...

The first edition of the Film- and Culinary Art-Tasting Festival will open on Sunday, September 5, with an excerpt from director Silviu Purcarete’s debut feature film, “Undeva la Palilula”/ Somewhere in Palilula, HotNews reports. The 20 minutes’ excerpt from Purcarete’s film which will be screened in the Cetate Harbour is a world preview, as the film is still in post-production.

The film’s protagonist is Serafim, a fresh Medical School graduate, who is assigned a short-term position at the Palilula hospital – a leprosy-sanatorium, an improbable hospital, a gynaecology clinic in which no child is born. The film depicts doctor Serafim’s adventures in Palilula, as years and seasons go by. The cast includes celebrated Romanian actors such as Razvan Vasilescu, George Mihaita, Ilie Gheorghe, Ofelia Popii and Ioana Craciunescu. Horatiu Malaele and Marius Manole are two other resonant names in a cast boasting over 50 actors, most of whom come from theatres with which Purcarete has collaborated in the past years, from Sibiu, Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Iasi.

The Film- and...

From September onwards Romanian films are coming out almost in a row.

The distributors’ motivation is that holidays are over, students are back to school as well, so cinema audiences are in full attendance. Cristi Puiu, Radu Muntean, Andrei Ujica, Constantin Popescu and Nap Toader are waiting for the Romanian spectators’ verdict, while other premieres are lined-up for next year.

On September 17, “Marti, dupa Craciun”/ Tuesday, after Christmas and “Mar Nero” will be launched in cinemas. The former made an excellent impression in Cannes, where it was presented in the “Un Certain Regard” section, a step ahead for Radu Muntean, who had previously been selected in “Quinzaine des Realisateurs”, with “Boogie”. “Mar Negro” won an award in Locarno two years ago and is an Italian-French-Romanian co-production, the feature film debut of Federico Bondi. Dorotheea Petre is starring in it, alongside Ilaria Occhini.

“Marti, dupa Craciun” is distributed in Romania by Cristian Mungiu’s company, Voodoo Films, which is also the distributor of “Autobiografia lui Nicolae...

Jimena Navarrete, a 22-year-old brunette from Mexico, was named Miss Universe in Las Vegas on Monday, extending Latin America’s domination of the pageant to three consecutive years. The first runner-up was Miss Jamaica, Yendi Phillipps, while Miss Australia, Jesinta Campbell, was second runner-up. Miss Ukraine, Anna Poslavska came in fourth, ahead of Miss Philippines, Venus Raj.Navarrete, a nature enthusiast from Guadalajara, revealed earlier in the competition that she wanted to work with women who suffer from eating disorders. “I studied nutrition and I would like everyone to understand that it is not about your looks it is how you feel inside,” the 5-foot-nine (1.75-metre) brunette said through an interpreter. “And when you feel good inside you look good.”

She becomes the second Mexican to take the crown, following Lupita Jones in 1991. Venezuela claimed the title in 2008 and 2009, but in a surprise the country failed to make it past the first cut, when the 83 contestants were reduced to 15. Also eliminated at the outset was Miss USA Rima Fakih, a Muslim of Lebanese...