Ruxandra Ghițescu’s Otto the Barbarian gathered a total of 13 nominations at this year’s Gopo Awards, the event of the Romanian film industry. Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog follows with 11 nominations, while Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, George Apetri’s Unidentified/Neidentificat, Eugen Jebeleanu’s Poppy Field/ Câmp de maci, and Horaţiu Mălăele’s Luca received seven nominations each.

The winners will be announced on April 19.

Twenty-six Romanian films, which opened in local cinemas or were launched on VOD platforms in 2021, were considered for nominations at this year’s edition of the event.

Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn/Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc, Eugen Jebeleanu’s Poppy Field/ Câmp de maci, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, Bogdan George Apetri’s Unidentified/Neidentificat, and Ruxandra Ghițescu’s Otto the Barbarian/ Otto Barbarul are the films nominated in the Best Feature Film category.  

The nominees in the Best Director category are Bogdan George Apetri for Unidentified, Cristi Puiu for Malmkrog, Eugen Jebeleanu for Poppy Field, Radu Jude for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, and Ruxandra Ghițescu for Otto the Barbarian.

Andreea Grămoșteanu for the part in Perfect Strangers, Ioana Bugarin for Mia misses her revenge, Katia Pascariu for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Marina Palii for Malmkrog, and Nicoleta Hâncu for And They May Still Be Alive Today are nominated in the Best Leading Actress category.

Adrian Titieni for Father Moves Mountains, Bogdan Farcaș for Unidentified, Conrad Mericoffer for Poppy Field, István Téglás for Luca and Mircea Andreescu for No Rest for the Old Lady/ După 40 de zile are nominated in the Best Leading Actor category.

Six productions were nominated in the Best Documentary category: Tudor Platon’s Casa cu păpuși/ House of Dolls, Andrei Dăscălescu’s Holy Father, Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă’s The Exit of the Trains, Andra Hera’s The Things We Hide in Silence, Andra Tarara’s Us against us, and Dan Dinu’s Wild Romania.

Albert Dupontel’s Adieu les cons, Leos Carax’s Annette, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Régis Roinsard’s Les traducteurs, and Céline Sciamma’s Portrait de la jeune fille en feu were selected in the Best European Film category, which includes productions distributed in local cinemas last year.

The complete list of nominations is available here.

The nominations were established by a pre-selection jury made up of film critics Iulia Voicu and Ștefan Dobroiu, Mihai Brezeanu, a columnist with culture platform LiterNet, directors Laurențiu Damian and Ivana Mladenovic, actress Rodica Lazăr, cinematographer Vivi Drăgan Vasile, editor Roxana Szel, costume designer Dana Păpăruz, producer and director Monica Lăzurean Gorgan, and producer and festival organizer Miruna Berescu.

More than 650 professionals in all areas of the local film industry will be invited to vote for the winners, using a mechanism provided by PwC Romania.

(Photo: Sorin Florea, courtesy of Gopo Awards)

simona@romania-insider.com