Movies from 10 Balkan countries, painting and cartoon exhibitions, concerts, book launches, culinary shows featuring Serbian, Aromanian and Romanian dishes plus an international symposium dedicated to the Balkan film, all lure the visitors over August 26 – September 1 in the ‘Citadel’ Cultural Port on the Danube (Dolj County, southeastern Romania) at the fourth edition of the ‘Divan Film Festival’, which is dedicated to the Balkan comedy. ‘We have no contest underway, therefore the selection also includes older movies that are however unknown to the Romanian public and even to the moviegoers in other countries. The bunch of titles includes ‘Who’s Singin’ Over There’ (dating back to 1980 and directed by Serbia’s Slobodan Sijan), which was voted by critics in 1996 the best Serbian movie made in the 1947-1995 period, but which was never screened in Romania. (…) Nae Caranfil’s ‘E pericoloso sporgesi’ will represent the Romanian comedy two decades after its premiere,’ the festival’s selector Marian Tutea told a press conference, Agerpres informs. ‘We have about 100 guests from 11 countries, 55 movies and seven feature films from 10 countries. Apart from comedies there is also footage from other genres – short films, documentaries, comedy short films, cartoons – and quite a few award-winning films. We also have four Cannes award winners, another one that reaped a Berlinale prize and even an Oscar-candidate cartoon about the Balkans,’ said Tutea. One of the highlights of the ‘Divan Film Festival’ will be the opening of the cartoon exhibition ‘Romanians and Bulgarians in the Schengen Area’ to be attended by Elena Velikova, curator of the art gallery in Ruse, and Bulgarian cartoonist Valentin Georgiev. During the festival, children from the ‘Citadel’ and the surrounding villages will have the opportunity to watch Victor Antonescu’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’, the first animation feature film produced in Romania (in co-work with the Italian studios Corona Cinematografica). The festival will end with a concert given by the peasant fanfare Mambo Siria and a wrap-up party.
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