BUZZ CEE: it’s happening

BUZZ CEE, meaning Buzau International Film Festival, represents a new film festival which already started in south-east of Romania, offering an impressive line-up of films from all genres. Business Review talked with Mihaela Constantinescu (in picture), the festival’s director, to find out what’s behind the first edition of this promising festival.

What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

We’re all rooting for the CEE region and cinema. This idea actually came to us after a Romanian film premiere, which I think it was a documentary, when we all thought that it was a pity the Romanian public will probably never get to see the great film we had just seen. So it went on from that and became an actual project that was lucky enough, I guess, to be funded by the local authorities and have a chance to come true.

What do you look for when programming BUZZ CEE festival?

The idea was to fiind relatable, public-oriented films, the kind of films that show the close ties between our culture and the CEE region in general. We all have much in common. Our humour is pretty much the same, our dramas and way of life… We should embrace all these similarities. Plus, we don’t get many chances to see films produced in the region. That’s why we tried to include the whole package: features, documentaries and short films.

Could you tell us what the WOW factor is for this year’s programme?

First and foremost: it’s happening. The idea comes true and that’s quite amazing. Second, we get to show a lot of CEE films, namely 50, during a five-day dedicated film festival, in a part of the country that hasn’t had a lot of film festivals of any kind. And then, we have quite an impressive line-up of films in the competiton and special treats like the BUZZ Women section, a non-competitive section dedicated to CEE women film makers, and a BUZZ Hungary section, part of our yearly plan to have a country focus and be able to screen the best productions from one CEE country each year.

What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year?

If I were not involved, just a guest or a film-goer, I would be extremely curious. Most of these films won’t get a cinema premiere, they’ll be shown only during BUZZ CEE, so I would be extremely interested in everything, from comedies, to documentaries, to dramas… It’s a great opportunity to get in touch with this part of Europe, which is so close but seems so far away sometimes, due to the little contact we have.

What is your future plan or future scope for the on-going festival?

We definitely plan for this to be an yearly event and if everything turns out the way we hope, Buzau will become a hub for CEE cinema. It’s such a beautiful county and it has great potential for development being situated in the Central South-Eastern Romania that we believe it’s the perfect place to develop such a project. We also plan to bring more of BUZZ CEE in the neighbouring cities, as we’ve had some great feedback in the region. We plan to screen some of the winning films during some special events in other parts of the country and if the response is positive, in the following years we’ll try to develop this project on a regional level.

The screenings will take place in Cinema Dacia 3D, George Ciprian Theatre and Buzau County Council Hall. More details about BUZZ CEE can be found here.

Oana Vasiliu