AGERPRES special correspondent Daniel Popescu to Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM), the film trade fair held simultaneously to the Berlinale (February 11-21) reports that Romanian cinema continues to attract plenty of interest.
According to film critic Mihai Fulger, Director of the National Film Archive and coordinator of the Romanian stand at the event, the fact that in the past years Romanian films received several awards at the Berlin film festival, such as Calin Peter Netzer’s “Child Pose” — Golden Bear (2013) and Radu Jude’s “Aferim!” — Silver Bear for Best Director (2015), has fuelled interest in Romanian films.
“I had contact with producers, directors, distributors, exhibitors, each interested in certain aspects of our cinema. For instance, there are foreign producers who are looking for Romanian co-producers or festival curators who need Romanian films for their programmes or even aspiring actors who are after roles in Romanian movies because Romanian cinematography is pretty well known right now,” Mihai Fulger told AGERPRES.
Speaking of director Adrian Sitaru’s feature “Illegitimate” (2016), screened in the Forum section, Fulger said the director and the film’s producer Anamaria Antoci had attracted the participants’ interest. The only Romanian film included in the official selection of the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, “Illegitimate” was very well received by the audience.
“This is a very useful meeting place and, even if contracts are not signed necessarily, fruitful contacts between Romanian producers and filmmakers and their foreign colleagues can be established,” the critic said.
In reference to the current edition of the Berlinale, Mihai Fulger stated that, in his opinion, “the competition’s level is rather low, compared to Cannes”, adding that “the parallel sections, such as Forum or Panorama — which are giving one many more chances to be surprised or have cinematic revelations — are more interesting”. More…