After a first edition that was introduced by Moldovan president Maia Sandu, CinemaHora has just wrapped its third iteration, which took place on 13 and 14 December. The event positions itself as the main networking and education tool for young Moldovan filmmakers who have written screenplays, but who are still unsure about how to turn them into movies and how to enable these films to meet international audiences. Aptly named CinemaHora, after the dance in which everyone is welcome to participate, the event gathered circa 150 guests who were quite professional by day and turned quite friendly by night, after a glass of that world-famous Moldovan wine.

The event was introduced by Valentina Iusuphodjaev, head of the Moldovan National Film Center, the main organiser of the gathering. She told the audience that Moldovan decision makers are increasingly aware of the importance of cinema as a diplomatic tool and that in 2026, the centre might have a bigger budget, to the tune of €2.6 million. She announced that the rules for financing are more transparent now and also mentioned the cash rebate scheme of up to 30% for foreign productions being produced in Moldova.

Regarding the next, urgent steps forming part of the Moldovan National Film Center’s strategy, Iusuphodjaev mentioned the organisation of a fiction feature film festival. Moldova has two documentary film festivals, Cronograf and Moldox, which were presented on the second day of the event, but no international fiction feature festival, and this has become a priority for the centre. Another priority is the launch of a renovated, state-owned cinema for arthouse screenings and festivals.

The first panel focused on “Navigating the Romanian Film Market, Distribution Trends and Challenges”, where Ştefan Bradea, co-owner of Romanian distributor Bad Unicorn, set the tone by telling potential Moldovan distributors that starting with something that moves them should be the very first step in their endeavour to move their audience. In terms of strategy, Bradea said that distributors should focus more on their brand and not on the individual titles that they distribute. Furthermore, congealing a community around the brand is important for a distributor’s long-lasting success.

Talking about a different part of the market, Dorina Oargă, project manager for TIFF Unlimited, stressed the importance of partnerships in an ultra-competitive market. In her case, partnering with similar platforms from Hungary and Poland increased the visibility and efficiency of TIFF Unlimited. In the same panel, producer Miruna Berescu said that, after deciding to release several of her productions by herself, she partnered with established distributor Independenţa Film for the release of her Cannes-selected Three Kilometres to the End of the World [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Emanuel Pârvu
ficha de la película], directed by Emanuel Pârvu. Also present at the panel were Ionuţ Mareş, a former film critic who became a festival selector and is now in charge of selecting titles for Cristian Mungiu’s distribution company, Voodoo Films, as well as Victor Benderra, founder of Good Time Films.

In another panel, “Funding the Future: European Support for Film Distribution and Exhibition”, executive director of the Eurimages fund Susan Newman said it would be easy for Moldova to become a Eurimages member. She also advised future Moldovan producers to think about their potential audiences from the earliest stages of their projects, a piece of advice that was later repeated by other guests at the event. Martina Petrovic, head of Creative Europe Desk Croatia, showed the myriad ways in which a budget of more than €20 million can be spent in order to create a more effective and broader film ecosystem, while Adrian Preda, a project coordinator for Europa Cinemas, talked about various programmes run by the organisation intended to welcome and educate the future generation of cinemagoers.

In “The Present and Future of Film Distribution”, mk2 representative Frédérique Rouault talked about how distributors must enrich the cinema experience through various methods – for example, holding screenings in novel venues or selling merchandise made especially for a particular release. She also presented the case of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, which was re-released this year as it celebrated its 100th anniversary. She advised filmmakers to think about promotion during the screenplay stage of their projects. In the same panel, Georgian filmmaker Maradia Tsaava talked about the conflict between the Georgian film community and the recently appointed leaders of the local film centre.

In the context of short films failing to reach an audience after being selected at festivals, Romanian producer Claudiu Mitcu and his partner Alin Boeru presented Halta, a viewing platform exclusively dedicated to short films that they plan to launch next spring. Finally, Denis Krupnov, a film producer and distributor at Reason8, talked about various tools that can be useful to better position a particular film in a particular market, illustrating this with the example of Tudor Giurgiu’s Freedom [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Tudor Giurgiu y Cecilia St…
ficha de la película].

In another panel, State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture Andrei Chistol announced that Moldova has recently put together the documentation necessary for joining Creative Europe. He also said that the Moldovan authorities are determined to make the country more prominent on the artistic stage in Europe, and steps are being taken in this direction by Creative Moldova, an organisation created to fund the presence of Moldovan artists, including filmmakers, in other countries. As for co-production efforts, Chistol mentioned Romania as a traditional co-pro partner, adding that recently, Moldovan productions have also been made in co-production with Germany and Serbia. Simone Baumann from German Films urged the Moldovan National Film Center to create a department exclusively dedicated to promoting local productions abroad, while Natalia Mosor, the head of the Polish Institute in Bucharest, talked about the success story of CinePolska and about the necessity of reaching audiences who do not live in cities. Finally, Iryna Kyporenko, head of the Film Department at the Ukrainian Institute, talked about how Ukrainian filmmakers are using their creations to tell the world what is happening in their country. “It is not enough to make a good film; you also have to know where to show it and how to promote it,” Kyporenko said.

The issue of AI was briefly touched upon in the panel “The New Playbook: Innovative Approaches to Film Marketing and Distribution”, where Katarzyna Gromdzka, co-founder of the stop-motion animation studio Momakin, talked about how artists fear or reject AI, instead of learning to use it as a tool for improving their artistry. “Generative AI is evil, but AI in general can be useful,” she said in a panel that offered practical tools for promoting films, with the help of Monica Felea, co-owner of Bad Unicorn; Sofia Tocar, a representative of Square Eyes; and Hermione Efstratiadou, the founder of the Films Out There podcast. They talked about the importance of knowing your audience, promoting films as brands and being present in cinemas, as opposed to engaging in cheaper, but not exactly effective, campaigns on social media.

Another panel, “From Archive to Audience: Revitalising Classic Cinema for Today's Viewers”, saw Michal Bregant (head of the National Film Archive in the Czech Republic), Julia Girulska (project manager at Poland’s Film Archive at the Audiovisual Institute) and Guy Karim Borlée (coordinator of the popular festival Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna) talk about various ways to increase the visibility of classic films. "Kids are the future audience," said Bregant, homing in on the efforts that his organisation is making in order to reach youngsters.

In a separate event, Aleksandra Božović, the head of the Montenegrin National Film Center, talked about how her organisation has invested circa €2 million in screening equipment and the renovation of 15 cinemas that have returned to the public circuit in recent years. In “The Festival Circuit Unpacked” panel, various festival representatives, such as Weronika Czolnowska from the New Horizons Festival and Rada Sesic, head of the Documentary Competition at Sarajevo, urged Moldovan filmmakers not to fear festivals and instead approach them with their new projects. “Festivals desperately need new voices,” said Sesic, suggesting that she is sure that some of these voices could hail from Moldova.

CinemaHora also hosted a pitching session, at which 18 feature-length projects were presented to the audience by their directors and producers.