Putting Romania on the map: cultural festivals

Newsroom 21/12/2014 | 17:30

For several years now, Romania has been a cultural hotspot for the performing arts, film, theatre and music. Looking back over the cultural calendar of 2014, BR highlights the top festivals held around the country.

By Oana Vasiliu

Lights, camera, action: film

Cluj-Napoca was the talk of the cultural world from May 30 to June 8, during which the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) screened over 217 movies from 55 countries, complemented by countless related events such as exhibitions, concerts, master classes, debates and parties. The 13th run of the event attracted over 160,000 cinephiles and 1,000 special guests, with 63,000 tickets sold for various events. Director Tudor Giurgiu, also director of the festival, used the event to launch his campaign to save Romania’s silver screens and revive the once-loved local pastime of going to the cinema. Statistics presented by Giurgiu show that currently just 25 movie theaters out of 30 are still active in the state-owned Romania Film network, including only six modernized halls with digital equipment. Last year, 450 movies were screened in Romania, of which 198 were premieres. In terms of admissions, ranked by the origin of first-release feature films, 250,000 people watched Romanian-made films in 2013, 100,000 movie goers selected European productions, whereas almost 8 million people viewed American movies.

In October, Cluj-Napoca was again in the spotlight, during the Cluj International Comedy Festival. The event involved 147 film projections in nine different locations, the screening of 192 movies from 38 countries across four continents and over 100 special guests who entertained the public for ten days, as well as jazz concerts, theater, dance and parties, all put together by over 200 organizers, both festival employees and volunteers.

The capital, Bucharest, sees almost weekly film events under various festival umbrellas. One of the most hotly anticipated film festivals was Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest. Screenings sold out and new projections were arranged to allow local fans to see on the silver screen what the Cannes jury awarded in 2014. Over 14,000 viewers watched the 30 movies brought to Romania by director Cristian Mungiu.

A record number of animated films were submitted for the ninth edition of the Anim’est festival – over 1,260 short and feature-length movies – of which 400 productions from over 60 countries made the cut and were shown in Bucharest. Competitions, retrospectives, Q&As, workshops, events and parties were held for fans of the genre.

Some 120 films from 40 countries were screened during the 20th run of the most important documentary festival in Romania, Astra Film Festival, which is held in Sibiu. This year included four competition sections: international, featuring works from Frederick Wiseman, Michel Gondry and Corneliu Porumboiu; Central and Eastern Europe, tackling subjects that define the region’s identity and portray realities unknown even to neighboring countries; student, featuring productions by young directors from the university centers of Geneva, Manchester, London, Munich, Budapest, Bucharest and San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba); and Romania, showcasing local films.

All the world’s a stage: theater

The third most important theater festival in Europe (after Edinburgh and Avignon) is held in Sibiu. The 21st edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival took place in June, with 20,000 tickets selling out far in advance. The event gathered participants from 70 countries and presented 350 shows in 66 venues to over 62,000 daily spectators.

Bucharest International Street Theatre Festival is now a much looked forward to fixture on the capital’s calendar thanks to the colorful characters enlivening unconventional spaces around town. Performances by the Shakespeare’s Globe troupe are always a highlight.

The sounds and the echoes: music

For 18 years now, international jazz music has emanated from the Romanian mountains, via the small village of Garana in Poiana Lupului, Caras Severin county, courtesy of Garana International Jazz Festival. Considered a contemporary Woodstock, the festival unfolds in the heart of the Western Carpathians. Having developed over the decades into an international artist settlement, Garana (50 km by car from Timisoara airport or 20 minutes from Resita train station) hosts Europe’s only open-air jazz festival, which commonly sees local hotels fully booked.

The 14th George Enescu International Competition, the only classical music competition organized by Romania to attain recognition within the international musical world, took place this year. It had four sections: violin, cello, piano and composition, and more than 230 young artists from 36 countries applied. Romania fielded ten participants in the violin contest, 14 pianists and two cellists. Audiences enjoyed free admission to concerts and recitals while the public could watch digital live screening in George Enescu Square.

RadiRo – Radio Orchestras International Festival took place at the end of September. A unique event in Europe, it brought to Bucharest five radio orchestras, along with internationally renowned soloists and conductors.

Looking forward to the George Enescu International Festival in 2015

Over 2,500 foreign artists and 500 national musicians are expected to take part in 58 concerts during the 2015 George Enescu Festival, which will take place between August 30 and September 20, at Palace Hall and the Romanian Athenaeum. Twenty Enescu pieces will be played. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra will come to the festival and to Romania for the first time, after 15 years of negotiations, accompanied by the legendary Sir Simon Rattle, on September 3.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, San Francisco Symphony, Munich Opera Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Sankt Petersburg Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Bayerische Staatoper, Royal Liverpool Symphony Orchestra and Monte Carlo Philharmonic will all perform, along with the local National Youth Orchestra, George Enescu Choir and Orchestra Philharmonic, Radio Hall National Orchestra and Radio Academic Choir.

Soloists include: conductors Cristian Mandeal and Horia Andreescu, Dan Grigore, Ruxandra Donose, Valentina Nafornita, Alexandra Dariescu, Arcadi Volodos, Anne Sophie Mutter, Fazil Say, Murray Perahia, Yfrem Bronfman, Andras Schiff, Pierre Laurent Aimard, Maria Joao Pires, Renaud and Gautier Capucon, David Garett, as well as garlanded musicians from the Enescu Competition, Alexandru Tomescu, Valery Sokolov, Stefan Tarara, Vlad Stanculeasca and Elisabeth Leonskaja.

The Romanian Ministry of Culture will contribute RON 28 million to the budget, with another RON 7 million coming from private sponsors. Contacted by BR, Valentina Vesler, PR manager of Valvis Holding, one of the sponsors of the festival, said the company was one of the most active brands in supporting the national cultural scene, although the Aqua Carpatica brand is only four years old. Unfortunately, at a national scale many budgets for cultural events have been cut. “We take the funds for this type of events from the marketing budget, and regarding our partnership with the Enescu Festival, we consider it a moral duty which we have for our consumers,” said Valentina Vesler.

Tickets will go on sale on February 16. A full subscription will cost RON 2,200 for the first category, RON 1,700 for the second, RON 1,300 for the third and RON 1,000 for the fourth. For 11 concerts, tickets prices go from RON 550 to RON 1,250, while prices for concerts and cameral recitals are RON 2,000 and RON 1,600. Subscriptions for the “By Midnight” category cost RON 700 or RON 900, while morning concert subscriptions cost RON 170 or RON 200. Individual ticket prices go from RON 40 to RON 160.

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