Radio România Internațional

Tag: Gopo Awards Gala

  • April 30, 2024 UPDATE

    April 30, 2024 UPDATE

    MIGRATION – Romania is ready to implement the pact on migration and asylum and has already taken steps in that direction, Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu said on Tuesday at the end of a migration conference hosted by Gent, Belgium. Romania launched an initiative to consolidate regional cooperation to combat illegal migration and cross-border crime, jointly with the European Commission and regional states such as Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. Ahead of this reform, Romania implemented a pilot program on the border with Serbia, showing that pre-emptive actions led to a 97% reduction in illegal migration flows.

     

     

    COOPERATION – Romania’s Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, says the significant presence of US troops in Romania is evidence of the United States’ determination to help consolidate security in the region. The Romanian official joined US Ambassador in Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, in attending the change of command ceremony at the Naval Support Facility in Deveselu (south). Minister Tîlvăr highlighted the major role of the US anti-ballistic missile system hosted by Romania for the NATO defense architecture, also marking a joint contribution of the United States and Romania to NATO defense efforts and facilitating protection against threats coming from outside Euro-Atlantic space.

     

     

    MINI-HOLIDAY – The Interior Ministry has taken additional measures to ensure public order and safety for Labor Day, when the summer season starts officially, and Orthodox Easter, celebrated on May 5th. Security forces will be primarily dispatched to the main roads, accompanied by air support, and in the proximity of churches. Measures were also taken together with the Bulgarian police to reduce waiting times on border checkpoints. Over 80,000 people are expected to spend their holidays at the seaside, where concerts and an electronic music festival are scheduled.

     

     

    TAROM – The European Commission on Monday approved Romania’s plans to provide restructuring aid for the Romanian state-owned airline TAROM to the amount of 95 million EUR, in keeping with EU norms on state aid, the Commission said in a statement. The measure is expected to help the company restore its feasibility in the long term. After the announcement, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said TAROM can become in the next two years an airline that can support its development on its own and that as the country’s prime minister, he has the duty to support “a Romanian national company with tradition”.

     

     

    FILM – Freedom by Tudor Giurgiu won the Gopo Trophy for best Romanian feature film at the Gopo Awards ceremony held on Monday in Bucharest. The film is inspired by true events that took place in Sibiu, in the center, during the anti-communist revolution of December 1989. The film also won the award for best director, best actor, which went to Alex Calangiu, best supporting role, which went to Iulian Postelnicu, and best script, which went to Cecilia Ştefănescu and Tudor Giurgiu, the latter to be shared with Radu Jude for Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, which he also directed. Ilinca Manolache won the best actor award for her role in Jude’s film. Vlad Petri won the best documentary award for Between Revolutions, while the prize for best European production went to Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall. (VP)

  • April 26, 2023

    April 26, 2023



    Visit. The Austrian Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, has held talks in Bucharest, today, with his Romanian counterpart Lucian Bode, the Romanian Ministry of the Interior says in a press release. Before the meeting, the Austrian official stated that the Schengen area was non-functional and that he couldn’t offer a date for Romania’s accession. According to him, the interest of both countries is that this system works. It is very important that we meet in order to be able to discuss security issues that concern both countries. We had very clear, difficult discussions, but we had them. There are also many common points, he said. Gerhard Karner added that the two countries need the support of the European Commission for safer borders. We recall that at the Justice and Home Affairs Council held at the end of last year, the Austrian minister opposed the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen.

    Bucharest 9. The Romanian Minister of Defense, Angel
    Tîlvăr, co-chairs, today, together with his Polish counterpart, Mariusz
    Blaszczak, a new meeting of the Defense Ministers in the Bucharest 9 Format,
    held in Warsaw, Poland. According to a press release, this is an opportunity to
    harmonize the positions of the B9 states on the eastern flank of the Alliance
    in order to promote and reflect common security interests on the allied agenda,
    including in run up to the NATO Summit in Vilnius, this summer. Also, both aspects regarding the current
    security challenges triggered by the
    latest developments of the war in Ukraine and the regional and Euro-Atlantic
    implications will be addressed, as well as the need to keep supporting the most
    vulnerable partners in the region, subject to hybrid threats from Russia, namely
    the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia
    and Herzegovina.




    Protest. Education trade
    unionists picketed on Tuesday the headquarters of the Government in Bucharest,
    dissatisfied with salaries in the system, but also with the talks over the Executive’s
    intention to cap personnel expenses at the level of 2022, with additional
    negative impact for employees in the education system. A protest has also been
    announced for today. The trade union federations have also planned a
    large-scale protest on May 10th, with some 15 thousands
    participants. If their demands are not resolved, the unions are warning that, at the end of May, a general strike could be
    staged, leading to the disruption of the
    training-educational process, including by impacting the national exams.






    Russia. Moscow is
    pursuing a hostile policy towards the Republic of Moldova – said the Minister
    of Foreign Affairs in the pro-Western Government in Chisinau, Nicu Popescu,
    commenting on the ban on entering Russia for a number of Moldovan officials.
    For many years, Russia has resorted to a hostile policy towards the
    Republic of Moldova. It has supported separatism, imposed an embargo, and there
    are troops of the Russian army on the territory of our republic. The Russian
    Federation regards the Republic of Moldova as an enemy, Popescu said.
    Previously, the first secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in
    Moscow, Valeriu Manea, was declared persona non grata in Russia, as a measure
    of retaliation against a decision adopted by Chisinau against a Russian diplomat
    who had behaved inappropriately towards the border police.






    Exercises. EAGLE
    SHIELD and EAGLE ROYAL exercises are taking place at the Capu
    Midia Range, in Constanța county (south-east), led by the French soldiers from
    the NATO Battle Group stationed in Romania. Romanian, American, Luxembourgish
    and Dutch soldiers are also participating in the two training sequences, the
    objective being the joint training of the allied troops. The exercises focus on
    practicing anti-aircraft defense capabilities through combat firing with rocket
    launcher systems and anti-aircraft artillery guns against aerial targets. After
    the launch of the Russian invasion in neighboring Ukraine, on February 24,
    2022, France deployed a MAMBA air defense system at Capu Midia, which can
    launch medium-range surface-to-air missiles that can hit targets up to 100 km
    away.










    Gopo Gala. The Gopo Awards
    Gala – the most important event dedicated to cinema in Romania – awarded, on
    Tuesday evening, the best films from the industry released in cinemas or on
    ‘View on Demand’ platforms in 2022. The film Metronome won most of
    the awards, while the audience award went to the film Teambuilding. The Gopo
    Awards ceremony was also marked by special moments, occasioned by the
    celebration of 100 years since the birth of the renowned filmmaker Ion Popescu Gopo
    (1923-1989). Through his artistic creations, Ion Popescu Gopo became a great
    personality of Romanian cinema, winning, in 1957, the Palme d’or
    award at the Cannes International Film Festival. (MI)

























  • ‘Caisa’ (Apricot)

    ‘Caisa’ (Apricot)

    Caisa’ (in English, Apricot), directed by Alexandru Mavrodineanu, screened for the first time at the Transylvania International Film Festival in 2018, last year won the first prize for best film in the Romanian section of the Astra Film Festival. It also won an award at the Gopo Awards Gala, where it was designated the best documentary film made in 2018. “The film projects a troubling picture of Romanian society, placing at its centre a man who manages to stay free of the all-encompassing cynicism and provides a group of young people with a shelter and an opportunity”, reads the motivation of the jury of the Astra Film Festival. At the same time, the film depicts in a very captivating manner both the unpredictable relationship between a boxing coach and his best trainee, and the fighting outside the boxing ring.



    In a gym on the outskirts of Bucharest, a coach (Dumitru Dobre), a man at the end of his career, is working hard to turn a group of underprivileged children into the next junior champions. Disillusioned, but resilient, coach Dobre pins all his hopes on a 13 year old boy nicknamed ‘Apricot’. We talked with director Alexandru Mavrodineanu about how he came about this humane and touching story, about what it was like to make a documentary from scratch, with no team and no funds, and about how the story of some people that you got to know by accident becomes your own story.



    Alexandru Mavrodineanu told us how his film was received: “It did get several readings, in the sense that, for instance, there were spectators who spotted the social drama first, but I am happy that many saw it as a human story, as I thought it out myself. A sort of tribute paid to the unsung, anonymous heroes, who live around us and who do their job day after day. To me, these people are a source of inspiration, and every time I think of making a film, this is the direction I take. One such hero is for me master Dobre, the main character in the film.”



    Alexandru Mavrodineanu started working on the documentary back in 2013, when he had just finished ‘Bird Man’, a story about ‘Mami’ Mihaita Nicolae, who wants to win the national hang gliding championship for the tenth time. At the time, the director had no plans for a new film, but when changing the gym he was going to, he met coach Dobre and his trainee, ‘Apricot’. At first, Mavrodineanu built the story around ‘Apricot’. He wanted to tell a story about rising above one’s social status. He filmed more than 350 hours and edited for half a year, and then he realized he was looking in the wrong direction, and that the true protagonist of the film was the coach. He is the one who gets emotionally involved every time and risks losing everything that he’s built, as ‘Apricot’ was not the first of his trainees who suddenly decided to give up boxing.



    Here is Alexandru Mavrodineanu again: “I met Dobre and Caisa on the first day I started going to a different gym. And the two of them mesmerized me, tricked me and had me throw myself into this adventure, without knowing how to get the money or a team to make the film. But I was so fascinated by the relationship between the two of them, which was so beautiful, that I decided to take the camera and start filming. After the first days I realized the camera loved them too, and that is a must for any documentary. I mean, you can have a wonderful story, but, if the characters are unable to convey certain emotions, it’s not enough. It was hard sometimes, because I had to be around them for a very long time and many times I had the feeling it was useless, that I would not use those shots in the film, but it gradually became like an obsession to me. The film is built on a cinematographic structure that is usually characteristic of fiction movies, and that is one more reason, I think, why the audience liked it. I built it like that because, even if it’s a documentary, presenting the characters and their story is not enough. You can have the most powerful characters, but it is the plot that attracts the audience.”



    Alexandru Mavrodineanu has directed several documentaries and short reels, but none of them has been received like ‘Caisa’: “This film was received like none of the other films that I’ve made. All those reactions were generated by various aspects depicted in the film. I realised that the documentary had the capacity to impress people and bring to light what is the most beautiful in them. And that is fulfilment to me. We, film-makers, are always happy when we get good reviews, when people talk about our good film, and the chance to make another one, but the real reason why we decide to make a film is to touch the audience, to have an impact.”

  • March 27, 2018

    March 27, 2018


    CELEBRATION – The two chambers of the Romanian Parliament have today gathered in solemn session to mark 100 years since the union of Bessarabia with Romania. In the presence of Romanian officials and other figures such as Princess Margaret, Custodian of the Crown, the Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and the President of the Moldovan Parliament Andrian Candu, the Romanian deputies and senators adopted a solemn declaration which pays homage to the authors of the historic act carried out 100 years ago. A province with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population within the Tsarist empire, Bessarabia joined Romania at the end of WWI, on March 27th, 1918. Years later, in June 1940, the Soviet Union re-annexed the province under an ultimatum, and the present-day Republic of Moldova was created on part of that territory. On Sunday, at a meeting organized in Moldovas capital Chisinau, dozens of thousands of citizens of the two Romanian states called for the re-unification between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.



    RUSSIA – Romanias decision to expel a Russian Federation diplomat, in response to the poisoning in Great Britain of the former Russian spy Serghei Skripal is “a manifestation of collective political madness” reads a message of the Russian Embassy in Romania. On Monday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry notified the embassy that one of its diplomats would be declared persona non-grata and forced to leave the Romanian soil. Romania thus joined other EU nations, which, just like the US and other countries such as Ukraine, Canada, Norway or Australia have been expelling Russian diplomats. The US alone will expel 60 Russian diplomats, in what has been dubbed “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history.” Moscow has denied its involvement in the poisoning on March 4th of the former double-spy and his daughter, in the first known nerve agent attack in Europe after WWII and has announced similar responses to the measures taken in the countries that have expelled Russian diplomats.



    JUSTICE – On Monday, the Romanian Senate, the decision-making forum in this matter, adopted the controversial modifications of the justice laws, namely those concerning the status of the magistrates, judicial organization and the functioning of the Superior Council of the Magistracy. The majority made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, supported by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania have again stated that the changes, previously endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies, were formulated in keeping with the rulings of the Constitutional Court. The right-wing opposition, however, has criticized the modifications and stated there is ground for challenging them in court again. We recall that some of the changes initially brought to the justice laws triggered the largest street-protests in post-Communist Romania.



    PROTESTS – Trade unionists from the Romanian health-care sector are today picketing the headquarters of the line ministry in Bucharest and on Thursday they will protest in front of the Labour Ministry. The are demanding, among other things, pay rises as of March 1st, for the entire healthcare and welfare staff, the elimination of the 30% cap for bonuses and the recovery of income losses following the implementation of the latest salary regulations, as of January 1st. For years, against the background of a severe under financing of the health-care sector in Romania, Romanian health specialists have left abroad in large numbers, in search for better paid jobs. Since last year, the net incomes of the health-care personnel have grown significantly. However, they are still unhappy with their salaries and bonuses and have threatened with protests that might culminate in an all-out strike. The current minister Sorina Pintea, however, has stated that they have no reason to protest.



    GOPO AWARDS – Bucharest is today playing host to the Gopo Awards Gala, an event held every year, which celebrates the best cinema productions of the previous year. This year, “One Step Behind the Seraphim” by Daniel Sandu, boasts the largest number of nominations – 15 – , followed by “6.9 on the Richter Scale” by Nae Caranfil and “The Anniversary” by Dan Chisu. Other films on the galas shortlist are “Ana, mon amour” by Calin Peter Netzer, “Breaking News” by Iulia Rugina and “Fixeur” by Adrian Sitaru. The life achievement awards will be granted to actors George Mihaita and Vladimir Gaitan. The name of the festival is a homage paid to the Romanian film-maker Ion-Popescu Gopo, who years ago won the Palme dOr for best animated short.



    FOOTBALL – Romanias national football squad is today taking on in Craiova, southern Romania, the Swedish team, in a friendly game. This is the first meeting between the two teams since the game played in 1994, when the Romanians lost to the Swedish team, in a penalty shoot-out, in the quarter finals of the World Cup hosted by the US. On Saturday, also in a friendly game, Romania defeated Israel 2-1. In another move, also today, on home turf, Romanias Under 19 team is playing against Ukraine the decisive match for qualification to the European Championship due in Finland, in July. After the victories scored in the first two matches, against Serbia 4-nil and Sweden 2-1, the young Romanian footballers need at least a draw to win the preliminaries.