Alexander Nanau's documentary Colectiv/Collective is Romania's proposal for the 2021 Oscars, in the Best International Feature Film category. The film tells the story of the first year after the 2015 fire at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest.

It is the first time that Romania picks a documentary as its proposal for the Academy Awards.

The American distributors of the film, Magnolia Pictures and Participant, will also register Collective for the Best Documentary section, according to a post on the film's Facebook page. Joining the race in two different sections increases its chances for a nomination.

"It is a great honor for us to be invested with so much trust by the National Center for Cinematography committee. We are truly in the golden era of the documentary, and the fact that these films start getting recognition on such a large scale is very encouraging. We are convinced that the Collective story will reach as many people as possible, having our American partners' support on the long road ahead of us. It will be an atypical competition, in a complicated year, in which the eligibility standards have been widened, and the number of eligible documentaries has become huge. The competition is just beginning, and we are moving forward with optimism and responsibility," Alexander Nanau said.

Collective takes a behind-the-scenes look at the fight against corruption that followed the Colectiv club fire, which resulted in the death of 64 people. It tells the story of the first year after the fire and follows both the authorities and the journalists in their interaction to search for and expose the truth.

The documentary premiered last year at the Venice Film Festival, outside of the competition. It was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and at the Zurich Film Festival, where it was also awarded. In addition, the film was in the official selection of the Sundance 2020 Film Festival and was screened at several international festivals, including New Directors/New Films, IDFA, True/False, CPH DOX, San Francisco International Film Festival, Göteborg International Film Festival, or Full Frame. It is now available on Hbogo.ro.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/colectiv film)