16/05/2008

After winning both the Palme d’Or and Un Certain Regard last year, along with a special screening of Liviu Ciulei’s 1963 Best Directing Palme d’Or winner Forest of the Hanged, Romania is looking forward to once again making an impact at the Cannes Film Festival, with a strong and diverse line-up.

Besides Radu Muntean’s third feature Boogie [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dragos Vîlcu
interview: Radu Muntean
film profile], competing in the 40th Directors’ Fortnight, two Romanian shorts are looking to strike gold on the Croisette: Megatron by well-known commercials director Marian Crisan is in the Palme d’Or short film competition, while Cristian Alexandrescu’s Interior. Block of Flats’ Hallway is nominated for the Cinefondation student film competition.

Romanians are also searching for production support at the Cinefondation Atélier, with Melissa de Raaf and Razvan Radulescu’s Felicia. Above All one of the 15 feature projects being presented to international producers. Another feature project involved in this year’s Cannes Festival is Adrian Sitaru’s For Love With Best Intentions, which the director has been working on at La Résidence since March 3.

Oana Giurgiu, a production manager on Tudor Giurgiu’s Love Sick and Kornel Mundruczo’s Delta [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kornél Mundruczó
interview: Orsi Tóth
film profile] (the Hungarian film competing for the 2008 Palme D’Or), will represent her country as the 2008 Romanian Producer on the Move while last year’s surprise Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Oleg Mutu
film profile]) will chair this year’s Europe Day on May 19.

While Romanian movies and filmmakers should maintain standards and raise the interest of Cannes audiences and industry guests, for the third year in a row Romania is also at the Market, with a pavilion where specific information about the domestic film industry is available throughout the festival.