Romanian films strike gold at international festivals

The Stockholm Film Festival (Sweden, November 17 – 28) and the Gijon Festival (Spain, November 19 – 27) were important events for the Romanian cinematography last week.

If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle, directed by Florin Serban, won the best actor award at the Stockholm Film Festival for George Pistereanu’s interpretation as Silviu, a teenage prisoner in a juvenile detention center, who is only five days away from his release. The film will be released in Swedish cinemas starting December 3, shows news wire Mediafax. Another Romania movie that was present at the festival was The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, showcased in the Spotlight: Extreme Politics section.

The Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm has been a partner of the film festival since 2007, when Cristian Mungiu won the grand award for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.

Tuesday, After Christmas aced the Gijon Festival, scoring three of the most important awards. Thus, the movie was the winner of the Best Film category, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Mimi Branescu, in the role of the adulterous Paul Hanganu) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (shared between Mirela Oprisor, for her interpretation of Adriana Hanganu, the wronged wife, and Maria Popistasu, as Raluca, the one with whom the husband cheats).

At the Gijon Festival, three other Romanian productions were present, among which Cristi Puiu’s Aurora, which received an award for artistic direction. Young director Victor Dragomir’s short film Fotografia (The Photography) was presented in a world premiere at the festival. Marian Crisan’s film Morgen was showcased in the Rellumes section.