The majority of Romanian cities lack cinemas, and Romania is the only European country with a cinema for every 315,000 inhabitants, said Tudor Giurgiu, film director and president of the Romanian Film Promotion Association.

Attending the Gopo Awards organized by the association, Giurgiu reminded of the low number of cinema halls in Romania, excluding those located in shopping malls: only 30, from 450 in 1990. In 78 percent of Romanian cities, there is no cinema whatsoever, he said, quoted by Mediafax. Only 10 cinemas were revamped in the last 20 years.

In Bucharest, there are only five stand alone cinemas, excluding those within shopping malls. For comparison, during the world war, Bucharest hosted 45 cinemas, Giurgiu said.

He recently started a campaign called 'Save the big screen', which aims to help modernize old Romanian cinemas, together with local town halls.

So far, a list of cinemas across Romania was included on the website salvatimareleecran.ro, and users have been invited to share news and pictures about old cinema halls in their towns.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: salvatimareleecran.ro)