Romanian “Superman, Spiderman or Batman” short film wins at the European Film Awards

The Romanian production “Superman, Spiderman or Batman,” directed by Tudor Giurgiu, received the European Academy Short Film 2012 Award at the awards gala in Valletta, Malta, on December 1, the National Day of Romania. Other nominees in the same section included “Demain, ca sera bien” by Pauline Gay, “Two Hearts”, Darren Thornton, “Miten Marjoja Poimitaan”, Elina Talvensaari, “L’Ambassadeur et moi” by Jan Czarlewski, “Im Freien”, Albert Sackl, “Csicska”, Attila Till, “Villa Antropoff”, Vladimir Leschiov and Kaspar Jancis, “Sessiz”, Rezan Yesilbas, “Manha de Santo Antonio”, Joao Pedro Rodrigues, “Back of Beyond” directed by Michael Lennox, “Titloi Telous”, Yorgos Zois, and “Einspruch VI” directed by Rolando Colla.

Tudor Giurgiu declared in his award acceptance speech that “It is terrific that this ceremony happens today. I would like that politicians were more receptive to our problems, since we have a great deal of talent, yet, what we need is more support.”

“Superman, Spiderman or Batman” is the story of a five-year old boy named Aron who, together with his father, hopes to save his mother, who suffers from a heart disease. They set together on a journey and at the end of which he wishes, like the superheroes in the comic books, to save his mother suffering from that heart condition. The film’s scenes were shot in Cluj – Napoca and feature Romanian actors Bogdan Zsolt, Cornel Răileanu, Elena Ivanca, Ovidiu Crisan, Maria Seles, Adriana Bailescu.

This short film was also awarded at the Aspen Shortfest in April (US) in the best fictional short movie category as well as with the best short movie award at the KALIBER35 Munich International Short Film Festival in June. The award received at Aspen Shortfest made Giurgiu’s film eligible for Oscar nominations in the Live Action Short Film section. Also, this American festival offered Tudor Giurgiu the BAFTA L.A Short Film Prize, where the jury was impressed by the amount of sensibility shown in the movie.

“Superman, Spiderman or Batman” is a production of Libra Film Productions, co-financed by the National Cinema Center, Zenith Media and created together with Digital Cube.