05/03/2008

There was little doubt before Monday night that the 2008 Gopos – the Romanian film industry awards – would be an all-Cannes affair, as 10 of the 17 Gopos were matched up exclusively among the winners of last year’s Palme d’Or and Un Certain Regard.

Before an industry-exclusive audience at the Throne Hall of the Royal Palace in Bucharest, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Oleg Mutu
film profile] received consolation for not being nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar, with 10 competitive Gopo wins, including Best Film and Best Director (Cristian Mungiu), Best Actress (Anamaria Marinca), Best Supporting Actress (Laura Vasiliu), Best Supporting Actor (Vlad Ivanov) and Best Cinematography (Oleg Mutu).

Mungiu’s rival for the night, California Dreamin’ (Endless) [+see also:
trailer
film profile], won three major Gopos, for Best Screenplay (Cristian Nemescu and Tudor Voican), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Razvan Vasilescu) and Best Editing, in spite of editor Catalin Cristutiu not being able to finish his work due to the death of director Nemescu.

Ana Ioneci won California’s fourth award of the night, for Best Costume Design, and screenwriter Voican got a second prize for Young Hope of the Year. In a trembling voice, Voican dedicated his awards to the memory of his friend and co-writer Nemescu, thanking him for “the extraordinary human and professional experience of writing together for seven years”.

The tight race for Best Documentary was ultimately won by Alexandru Solomon’s elegant Cold Waves. The film tells the story of Radio Free Europe Romania through the eyes of both its “show stars” and enemies from the Securitate.

Lastly, of the Europeans, Thierry Frémaux received the Special Prize for Promoting Romanian Cinema. According to the Palme D’Or delegate general, the Gopo gala proved Romania to be “one of the most fashionable film industries in the world at the moment, along with China, Korea and Mexico”.