The Romanian Film Days kicked off in Barcelona, organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in Madrid and the Cinemateca (cinematheque) of Barcelona.
The festival at its 6th edition is organized this year in two other Spanish cultural centres: Barcelona and Valencia.
The cycle of films in Barcelona, due from 5 to 22 May, includes five successes of the Romanian cinema of 2015, alongside ‘The afternoon of a torturer’, directed by Lucian Pintilie. The screening of this last movie will be followed on 11 May by a lecture on the repressive system theme of the communist prisons in the presentation of Camil Ungureanu, a political philosophy professor with the ‘Pompeu Fabra’ University of Barcelona, the ICR Madrid informs in a press release.
The festival opens with ‘Aferim! by Radu Jude, that received 13 prizes at the most recent Gala of the Gopo Awards of the Romanian cinematographic industry, among which we remind Best film, Best screenplay, Best image, alongside Best actor in a leading role to Teodor Corban. The same actor has received in Spain the Best actor prize within the most recent edition of the European Film Festival in Seville for his role in the feature ‘One floor below’ directed by Radu Muntean.
The animation documentary ‘Magic Mountain’ was awarded in Spain the ANIMAFICX Prize at the last edition of the International Film Festival of Gijon, whilst director Anca Damian was invited, with support of the ICR of Madrid, to present her film and deliver a master class at the International Animation Film Festival of Catalunya this year.
The debut feature of Nicolae Constantin Tanase, ‘The World Is Mine’, launched in Spain during the Romanian Film Days in Madrid, was remarked and rewarded with prizes at the festivals of Karlovy Vary and Wiesbaden.
The most recent feature of director Tudor Giurgiu, ‘Why Me?’ was selected in the official competition of the SEMINCI Festival of Valladolid in October 2015. The Madrid premiere took place at the Academia de Cine, in the presence of the director within an event moderated by Javier Tolentino, a well-known movie journalist with the Radio 3 public broadcaster.
Although it enjoys great success in the international festivals of Spain, the distribution of the Romanian films in the Spanish circuit is facing shortages. Because of this, the ICR plays an essential role in the distribution of the Romanian films in Spain through the annual festival it organizes, the cycles of thematic films carried out together with the regional cinematheques, and also through punctual projects dedicated to the classic and contemporary cinema.
