The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) will organize a series of cultural activities – exhibitions, concerts and educational projects – in Romania and the Republic of Moldova and through its representative offices and EUNIC clusters abroad on the occasion of Europe Day.

According to an ICR press release, sent to AGERPRES on Thursday, the program of events includes:

* The Romanian Cultural Institute, with the support of the Representation of the European Commission in Romania, EUNIC Romania and UCIN – Romanian Filmmakers Union, in partnership with European embassies, centers and cultural institutes, opens the 29th edition of the European Film Festival in Romania, on Thursday evening, at the Luceafarul Hall in Bucharest.

* On May 9, ICR and Romanian bookstore chain Carturesti are organizing a special event with translators Jan Willem Bos (Netherlands) and Steinar Lone (Norway), at Carturesti Verona in Bucharest. Radu Vancu, as moderator, poet, prose writer, essayist and translator, will discuss the challenges of the translation profession.

* In the Republic of Moldova, on May 9, the European Union Youth Orchestra will perform a concert at Mimi Castle, under the baton of conductor Jakub Przybycien, with works by Enescu, Beethoven and Bartok in the repertoire.

* ICR Beijing is organizing in Beijing and Yangzhou a series of three events of The Musical Theatre Ambassadors: ‘On Europe Day, paying homage to George Enescu’, marking the 70th anniversary of the great composer’s death.

* ICR Madrid participates on May 9, in the illustration exhibition ‘Europa Ilustra’, organized by EUNIC Madrid. The guest of the representation is the illustrator Diana Tivu, who will exhibit her work from the volume ‘Caruta-casuta’ (Cart, little house), published by ACS Art Consservation Support in 2023.

* ICR Stockholm, together with the Romanian Embassy in the Kingdom of Sweden and the Banat Village Museum in Timisoara, will participate, on May 9, in the events dedicated to Europe Day in Stockholm, a festival open to the public in the Kungstradgarden Park, where a ‘European village’ will be organized, consisting of country stands of EU Member States and candidate countries.

* ICR Tokyo, through the EUNIC Japan cluster and in collaboration with the Romanian Embassy in Japan, is supporting the participation of three Romanian animation film productions at the EU Film Days 2025 – Animation Film Festival. The screenings will take place in the ‘House of Europe’ pavilion, and will be traveling to Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

The delegation of the European Union, in partnership with ICR Tokyo, is organizing, on May 9, the launch of the cultural project ‘Once upon a time in Europe’ – a collection of 27 European fairy tales, including the fairy tale Harap Alb by Ion Creanga. The collection brings together fairy tales from all over Europe translated into Japanese for the first time and illustrated by seven renowned Japanese artists, including Higuchi Yuko.

* On May 9, ICR Vienna is hosting a presentation of the book ‘Journey into the midst of life: portraits, communities, histories, stories from a moving world’ by journalist Ruxandra Hurezean, who specializes in social reporting. The event, organized in partnership with Humanitas Publishing House, includes the presentation of reports made in Austria for this book, translated into German by Aura Okur, and the reading of excerpts from the book.

The VIENNA goes EUROPE Association will organize, also this year, an open-air European fair, on May 10, in the Mariahilferstrasse area, the largest and liveliest pedestrian and commercial thoroughfare in Vienna. ICR Vienna and the Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Austria will join the members of EUNIC Austria, organizing the Romanian stand and a musical performance by the children’s choir ‘Heruvimii’ from Vienna, under the guidance of the deacon professor Theodore Coresi.

* ICR Budapest will participate, on May 11, with its own stand, at the #EuropeDay festival in Freedom Square, where it will promote the cultural agenda of the representation and will disseminate materials presenting Romania’s cultural, tourist and gastronomic heritage, through the books, leaflets, flyers and brochures provided by the County Councils of Cluj, Mures, Arad, Suceava and Caras-Severin.

* The Romanian Embassy in Canada and ICR, in partnership with the organizers – the EU Delegation to Canada and EUNIC Canada, are inviting the public to see the film Bilet de iertare/Forgiveness Note, directed by Alina Serban, in the EU Short Film Festival program, which will take place from May 28-31 at the Cinema du Musee in Montreal.

* The members of EUNIC Marseille – Italian Cultural Institute, Goethe Institute, Consulate General of Romania in Marseille in collaboration with the Romanian Cultural Institute, the European Consulates General and the Representatives of the European Parliament and the European Commission are organizing the screening of the film R.M.N. directed by Cristian Mungiu, at the Italian Cultural Institute, on May 14, followed by a debate with the participation of European experts.

* ICR Chisinau will take part in the series of events organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova on the occasion of Europe Day, in collaboration with the Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Moldova and the Consulates General of Romania in Balti and Cahul: from May 15 to 20, Romanian films will be screened at the European Film and Culture Festival.