Radio România Internațional

Tag: short

  • Nightpractice, the recipient of the Best Romanian short film Award as part of the ANONIMUL 2023

    Nightpractice, the recipient of the Best Romanian short film Award as part of the ANONIMUL 2023

    The Audience award for the Best Short film as part of
    the ANONIMUL 2023 International Independent Film Festival went to Nightpractice,
    a production by Bogdan Alecsandru. Initially, more than 100 films were entered the
    short film competition. For the final competition, film critic Ionut Mares selected
    12 productions, most of which being signed by well-established names in the
    Romanian filmmaking industry. The production by Bogdan Alecsandru was also shortlisted
    for the Romanian Film Days competition as part of TIFF (Transylvania International
    Film Festival) with the selection including some of the best Romanian recent
    films.


    Bogdan Alecsandru has recently earned his Master’s in Film
    directing with the I.L Caragiale National Film and Drama University in Bucharest.
    He participated for the second time around in the Anonimul’s short film
    competition. In 2022 he was in Sfântu Gheorghe, the locality hosting the
    festival each year, with his first short film, Our House.


    We sat down and spoke
    to Bogdan Alecsandru about the topic of his film and about the reactions of the
    audience of Anonimul.


    I have
    taken part in Anonimul for the 2nd year in a row, in the short film
    competition, and it is also the 2nd year when the festival as such
    is very special and very specific. I met people who booked their tickets months
    in advance, so they can take part in the festival, whose venue we all know is in
    a rather isolated place. There isn’t very much to do in Sfântu Gheorghe and it
    is extraordinary, people gathering there to watch movies, hence the very special
    atmosphere. I also turned up with my film and I was so happy I got there. For
    me, it is very important to get in touch with the audience we have, a very
    special and extremely dedicated audience. Actually, this award, the audience’s
    award goes to the young filmmakers through voting, physically, as well as
    online, and, for me, that is a formative experience, I daresay. As part of the
    festival, every short
    film enjoys two screenings. One of them also has a Q & A section and that is
    actually the only time when you sit before your audience and have a direct
    interaction with them. The reactions seemed quite enthusiastic, to me, and I
    was happy about it as I wanted to make a short film meant to be quite audience-friendly,
    with horror- like elements, even with thriller elements, I daresay, in the most
    common acceptance of the word. That is why I expected my film to enjoy
    appreciation, yet I did not expect this award. Because, even if it is rather a pop
    film, rather audience-oriented, it has nonetheless a quite sensitive topic, for
    Romania, the relation between two people of the same sex.


    Bogdan Alecsandru expressed
    his interest mainly in queer cinema, which in Romania can still be viewed as
    some sort of niche cinema. Besides, he takes his time to make his debut with a
    feature film as, for the time being, he is passionate about the short genre which
    he considers he did not explore enough.


    In Romania,
    queer cinema is rather scarcely represented, we’re speaking about films telling
    stories focusing on same-sex relations. Notwithstanding, this kind of cinema had
    been tackled before, yet the first Romanian queer film had a tardier release,
    in 2006, when Tudor Giurgiu made Love Sick. I believe there are very many
    stories of this kind, untold, or which did not enjoy the opportunity of being
    told, until recently, and I am interested to make the topic known to the audiences,
    to that effect. Right now I am interested in this area of the short film, which
    can definitely be viewed as an exercise or as some sort of practice. Yet I view the short film as a
    genre n itself, a very precious one, so in the coming years, at least, I intend
    to explore its specificity. Which means I avoid making short films that rather look
    like a beginning or a demo for a feature film. And that, for the time being, at
    least. Later on, I do not know what I will do as I am still quite young and I
    change my focus rather fast. Now, speaking about Romanian cinema, it seems to
    be it has seen auspicious moments for some time now and, when at Anonimul, I
    was really happy to find myself included in a selection mostly made of women
    filmmakers. Many of those women filmmakers are friends of mine and I am happy
    for their career. I also find it a good thing, the fact that commercial films
    are on the rise, the fact that this is a growing phenomenon. What I have in mind
    are such films as Teambuilding, whose box office in theatres was rather high, which
    doesn’t happen very often in the case of Romanian movies. I find that a good
    thing also because this genre could change Romanians’ perspective on Romanian
    cinema a little bit, but, obviously, that
    is a good thing also from a commercial perspective. I think a functional
    filmmaking industry should have both film genres, the art and the commercial
    films .


    On the cast for Nightpractice
    are Andrei Giurgea, Tiberius Zavelea, Gabriel Spahiu, Marc Titieni, Rareș
    Ularu, Horațiu Băcilă, Vlad Tudoran, Robi Brage, Antonio-Daniel Petrica.











  • ‘The Christmas Gift’ singled out for the Oscars

    ‘The Christmas Gift’ singled out for the Oscars

    Director Bogdan Mureșanus film ‘The Christmas Gift has been short-listed for the Oscar 2020 Awards. At present, only 10 of the 191 registered shorts have been left in the competition. The final list with 5 nominations will be announced on January 13, 2020, following the votes cast by the members of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences specialized in short films.



    In early December, Bogdan Mureșanus film ‘The Christmas Gift received a prize from the European Film Academy – EFA. His movie has actually won many international prizes among which the Grand Prize of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the prize of the Days of Romanian film at the Transylvania International Film Festival TIFF, the Grand Prize of the short film contest of the Cottbus Film Festival and a special mention at the Montpellier Festival.



    The films action is set on the evening of December 20, 1989 and the plot starts from the letter a small boy wrote to Santa Claus, in which he reveals what his parents wish for Christmas. His father discovers, horrified, that his son had written in the letter that his fathers wish was to see Ceausescu dead. One of Bogdan Mureșanus intentions was to turn the film ‘The Christmas Gift into a black comedy:



    Bogdan Mureșanu: “I strained myself trying to achieve that, trying to turn the story into a black comedy. It seems that I managed to do that. Because my film was selected for many festivals of the world and I noticed that, in spite of cultural differences, people are quite amused when watching the film. At first I was really astonished to see that those people did understand the nuances of the dialogue. When I was editing the film, I was afraid that viewers from other countries might not grasp all the hints and allusions in the film. I thought they might find it difficult to understand who uncle Nicu was, how one could be afraid of ones own neighbor, how one could suspect ones spouse, and so on. I was afraid the film would be understood only by viewers from the eastern countries, who had that experience first hand. I was happy to see that the film was selected at a number of festivals, that the message of the film was grasped by the members of the jury. And I was happy to see that what I perceived as local language proved to be universal language.



    Bogdan Mureșanu confessed that the film was a Christmas present that he received earlier. At the awards gala in Berlin, when he was awarded the prize of the European Film Academy, he said his real joy was to be together with some of the people he loved and admired.



    Set up in 1988, the European Film Academy gathers more than 3,600 professionals form the filmmaking industry and its aims is to promote the European film. The EFA awards galas are held every 2 years in Germanys capital, and, in the other years, in various European cities. The winners are designated following the vote of the more than 3,600 members of the European Film Academy. Here is Bogdan Mureșanu with impressions on the prize his film received:



    Bogdan Mureșanu: “It is an honor for me, because the EFA is made up of professionals who watch lots of movies and who are up to date with the latest films. I know many of these professionals, directors, actors, screenwriters, and I was aware of their impressions about the film. At the awards gala, I shook hands with Wim Wenders, a director whom I admire a lot and who told me he liked the film. I also talked to another cinema star, Werner Herzog, so, for me the awards gala was something magical.



    Next Bogdan Mureșanu spoke about the feedback his film received:



    Bogdan Mureșanu: “As I have already said, I first thought that the film would resonate with the people in the eastern bloc, and I did not expect that the movie would be so much appreciated. This means that there is something universal about this story, it is not just something local. People have identified in the film aspects that go beyond that historical moment of December 1989. I was happy to see that the film was well received in America too. You can never anticipate such things.



    The cast of ‘The Christmas gift includes Andrei Văncică, Ioana Flora and the child Luca Toma.


    (translated by: Lacramioara Simion)

  • Le courrier des auditeurs – 13.12.2013

    Le courrier des auditeurs – 13.12.2013

    En Roumanie, le froid s’est bel et bien installé, mais pour un hiver véritable, les enfants et non seulement attendent que la neige fasse partie du décor partout dans le pays. Les agriculteurs aussi suivent la météo fiévreusement, car la récolte 2014 en dépend largement. Avec les précipitations de cette année, l’agriculture a fait une incroyable percée en Roumanie, 20% de plus par rapport à l’année dernière.



    Aujourd’hui, je commencerai par les questions, et d’abord par celles de notre ami Jacques Augustin, de France, que je salue : l’agriculture — combien de paysans sont propriétaires de leurs terres/logements ? quel est leur revenu mensuel ? travaillent-ils dans des coopératives ?



    Découvrez la réponse ici – http://www.rri.ro/fr_fr/jacques_augustin_france_les_agriculteurs_roumains-10435



    M Nouari Naghmouchi, d’Algérie, souhaiterait connaître la deuxième langue parlée en Roumanie après la langue roumaine. Il s’agit certainement du hongrois, parlé par 7% de la population roumaine. Merci à vous pour la question, à bientôt !



    Philippe Marsan, toujours de France, merci pour vos nombreux bulletins de réception. Je m’aperçois que j’ai laissé passer une question. Vous souhaitiez savoir si en Roumanie on offre le muguet le 1er mai. Non, ce n’est pas le cas, nous avons d’autres traditions que vous découvrez sans aucun doute au fil de vos nombreuses écoutes. Avec mon meilleur souvenir à vous et à Mme Maryse !



    M Daniel Beaulne, du Canada, souhaiterait savoir si les réacteurs de la centrale nucléaire roumaine de Cernavodă sont du type CANDU, donc ils emploient cette technologie canadienne. Oui, c’est bien cela.




    Bien le bonjour au Japon, où nous écoute M Osamu Aikawa, que je salue. Merci pour votre judicieux rapport d’écoute. Voici ce que notre auditeur nous dit cette fois-ci : « Un grand merci pour mavoir envoyé sept cartes QSL. Je viens de les recevoir. La nouvelle série de QSLs 2013! Nous pouvons regarder Radio Roumanie et je me sens comme si jétais dans le bâtiment de la Radio Roumanie Internationale. (Nous sommes ravis que les cartes QSL vous plaisent).

    Un mois sest écoulé depuis que ma femme a reçu une ablation chirurgicale à lhôpital. Elle fait maintenant des tests réguliers en ambulatoire. Elle est prévue pour recevoir un traitement médicamenteux à nouveau. Elle doit lutter contre la maladie. Et pour moi, il y a une nécessité de continuer à la soutenir. Je vais faire de mon mieux! Je prie que Dieu nous bénisse! Jespère que vous nous encouragez! Un grand merci! ». Bien entendu, nous vous encourageons. C’est à elle de lutter, il ne faut pas qu’elle laisse quelqu’un d’autre le faire à sa place. Nous espérons avoir de bonnes nouvelles de vous. Bonne santé, bon courage, et à bientôt !


    Notre ami du Sénégal, Amady Faye, a formulé le vœu de faire un stage en Roumanie. Nous le lui souhaitons de tout cœur !



    Bonjour à M Christian Persico, de France ; il nous dit : « Je vais prendre plaisir à consulter le site Internet de Radio Roumanie Internationale et continuer à vous écouter sur mon vieux récepteur à lampes dune autre époque! Voyons, jai presque 58 ans et jécoute RRI depuis lâge de ….14 ans! ». Merci, nous vous souhaitons de nous écouter pendant encore 58 ans !



    Nous avons un auditeur chinois qui nous a écoutés aux Pays-Bas, il signe Jonathan Short et nous a écrit en anglais. L’écoute des radios du monde est son principal hobby ; pourtant, dit-il, il reçoit rarement les émissions de la rédaction française de RRI en ondes courtes. Ayant écouté notre émission, il nous a envoyé un bulletin de réception qui a sans doute déjà été confirmé. Nous n’émettons pas vers cette direction en ondes courtes, donc il n’est pas surprenant que vous ne nous ayez pas reçus. Savez-vous que nous émettons aussi en chinois ?



    Bonjour à notre ami M Jean-Marie Monplot, de France, qui a suivi une de nos émissions avec intérêt, semble-t-il, d’après ses dires : « Une bonne note de 10 sur 10 pour le programme de dossier environnement et le programme roumain pour lélimination des anciennes voitures avec la prime à la casse ! Votre site Internet est toujours aussi intéressant, bravo à léquipe qui sen occupe ! ». Merci bien pour ces propos, M Monplot, portez-vous bien, à bientôt !



    Merci à tous ceux qui nous ont écrit et/ou envoyé des rapports d’écoute, et notamment à MM Maxim Zabytov et Dmitrij Kutuzov, de Russie, Anselmo de Paula Camargo, du Brésil, Rudy Chaulet, de France, Farid Boumechaal et Ferhat Bezazel, les deux d’Algérie, André Biot de Belgique. Nous vous souhaitons bonne santé, M Biot. M Claude Blasen du Luxembourg, nous espérons que vous avez pu entamer à succès l’étude du roumain grâce aux leçons de Dominique.