Nearly 300 children saw on Monday the first screenings of the KINOdiseea – International Children Film Festival, with Tulcea hosting this year’s largest event of its kind at national level.

The coordinator of the workshops taking place within the festival, Paul Ruben Grec, told a press conference on Monday, that until this year the biggest event of the KINOdiseea festival used to take place in Bucharest, but it was moved to Tulcea due to the audience’s reaction.

“The audience here has impressed us at every edition and we want to make up for it with as many activities and as many good films as possible. This year’s edition has seven days, compared to four days before, and in addition to the two films a day, screened at the Jean Bart Theatre, there will also be feature film screenings at Casa Avramide over the weekend,” said Paul Ruben Grec.

The number of workshops has also increased, with children having the possibility to learn acting, music and magic this year.

KINOdiseea festival director Daniel Mitulescu said that this year the festival will also reach some schools in Tulcea.

“The cinema experience is magical, educational, very useful and fun. Especially for those who don’t have easy access to a cinema, but also for those who do, there will be films that are not on the regular commercial circuit in Romania. They are rigorously selected films from all over the world,” Daniel Mitulescu told AGERPRES.

He thanked the Tulcea authorities for their support, and expressed the hope that the festival could be supported next year, too.

“We don’t know how the latest ordinance on spending cuts will affect our budget. I hope that this kind of expenditure will find agreement at the level of the decision-makers. They can’t be included in those types of expenditure that are considered a waste of public money. In such educational initiatives public money is not wasted, especially since we are talking about quality festivals,” the mayor of Tulcea, Stefan Ilie, said, during the press conference

According to the organisers, the first screenings offered free of charge to students on Monday brought about 300 students to the Jean Bart Theatre.

“This is a cultural event that children should also participate in, because this is how we train them as spectators and awaken their love for culture, for film, for activities other than those related to the online and computer environment,” said teacher Elena Dascalu, accompanying some students from theNifon Balasescu secondary school in Tulcea who attended the first screening of the festival.

Registration of students for the screenings and workshops organized during the festival is carried ou through the County School Inspectorate, and the children’s participation is free of charge.

KINOdiseea will end on Sunday and is an event funded by the County Council, Tulcea City Hall and the National Cultural Fund Administration.