The comedy Une Annee Difficile, made by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, the authors of the movie Intouchables – one of the biggest box office successes in France -, opened the French Film Festival in Romania on Thursday evening, at Cinema Elvire Popesco in Bucharest.

The French ambassador in Romania, Nicolas Warnery, stated at the opening event that for his country the cinema is a major tool in the cooperation with Romania.

“I’m just going to say one word about this magnificent cinema. It’s a meeting room between moviegoers, a meeting room between several cinematographic cultures. I thank those who made this programming, the whole team, those who financed the festival, as well as to the distributors who will present our films. I would simply like to say that for us the cinema is a major tool in the Romanian-French cooperation, which we want to continue,” said Warnery.

The director of the French Institute, Julien Chiappone-Lucchesi, highlighted that this first evening of the festival is a special one, the institute celebrating one hundred years of existence in Romania.

He spoke about the program of the edition, which reflects “the vitality of innovation in cinematic experimentation”, in the films made by the young talents of French cinema.

“Because the cinema is also a reflection of the vitality of society and that’s why we are extremely happy that this festival that starts today, here and that we are with you,” Julien Chiappone-Lucchesi pointed out.

Now in its 28th edition, the event, which brings together films from selections from Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Venice, Toronto and Annecy, spans from March 21 to 31, in Bucharest and 12 other cities in the country.

More than 100 film screenings will take place in cinemas and alternative cultural spaces in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi, Arad, Brasov, Braila, Constanta, Craiova, Sfantu Gheorghe, Sibiu, Suceava and Targu Mures, the organizers informed.

The French Film Festival is organized by the French Institute in Romania.

The AGERPRES National News Agency is media partner of the event.