Romania celebrates movie theaters for the first time this weekend, on the newly inaugurated Movie Theater Day which will take place on Saturday, September 10. The initiative belongs to the Cinema Operators' Association and is being carried out in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Culture.

The celebratory day involves special offers on tickets in a number of movie theaters - with places such as theater chain Cinema City offering ticket prices under RON 10, special screenings, and a variety of events such as thematic workshops and open discussions organized with the ministry’s support.

"This day will be a tribute to cinema and a reward for film lovers, after a period in which the social context has been less than favorable for both cinemas and cinema-goers," reads the press release issued by the Ministry of Culture.

During the press conference held at one of Bucharest’s mall-based movie theaters, Minister Lucian Romașcanu, CNC Director Anca Mitran, and President of the Cinema Operators Association, Jacob Borover discussed the worrying state of movie theaters throughout the country, says culturaladuba.ro.

According to Anca Mitran, there used to 450 movie theaters in Romania before 1990, and now there remain only 90. Moreover, several of these are in an advanced state of decay and there are currently no plans to renovate them.

Asked about this problem, culture minister Lucian Romașcanu said that there was a law that allowed municipalities to take over cinemas in order to renovate them, but they did not have the necessary funds.

"Now the town halls have money, but no legal framework. There is a law in the parliamentary circuit at the moment that will put all these things in deadlines, we will make an inventory of all the cinemas, the situation they are in, many of them are closed, in disrepair. When this law is in place, we will have the legal framework to transfer them to the administration of local authorities from RADEF.”

CNC Director Anca Mitran highlighted the importance of movie theaters in the film industry: "The cinema is a very important link in the chain of the film industry, and if there were no cinemas there would be no film production, there would be no Romanian films.”

The events organized by the Ministry of Culture in celebration of Romanian movie theaters are as follows:

 At the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre of Bucharest

• Screening of student short films at 18:00 in the Small Hall. These are student-made short films selected during the Șerban lonescu Festival held in July.
• Online broadcast between 14:00 and 18:00 on the Youtube channel of TNB, of the conference from the series CONFERENCES OF THE NATIONAL THEATRE: Alex Leo Șerban - Why we see films
• Screening of the Romanian feature film Dog poop girl directed by Andrei Huțuleac, and produced by Dan Chișu, winner of the Moscow International Film Festival Award for Best Film at 21:00. The screening is followed by a Q&A session.
• A special screening of a film from lon Caramitru's filmography, commemorating one year since his death.

At the Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum

• Premiere of the documentary film The Living Fire - Part I, which presents traditions related to the agro-pastoral year in Bucovina.

At the George Enescu National Museum

• In Sinaia, there will be a screening of the film Enescu - At the crossroads of the times (1996), directed by Nicolae Mărgineanu, screenplay by Ada Brumaru, produced by the Ministry of Culture and Video Publishing House.
• An online drawing competition for children between the ages of 7 and 14 will end on September 10 with the publication of the best works on the museum's social media accounts. Children are invited to create their own version of the poster for their favorite film in colored pencils, tempera, oil, watercolor, or mixed media, or to make a 3 image comic in which they are the main character.

At the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant

• At 13:00 there will be an educational workshop for high school students on the making of animated films, followed by a Q&A session with Valentin Urziceanu.
• At 14:00 there will be a screening of the film That works too (2022) directed by Valentin Urziceanu – an animated satire about film, music, and life.

At the National Museum of Romanian History

• On Friday, September 9, there will be a screening of the film The Rest is Silence, in the presence of director Nae Caranfil.

At the National Museum of History of Transylvania

• A Screening of The Moromete Family (1 and 2) directed by Stere Gulea, preceded and followed by discussions with film critics.
• Various interesting workshops for both adults and children: film makeup, Romanian comic strip characters with illustrator Adrian Barbu, the interactive workshop How do we stand in front of the camera?, film sound with a sound editing specialist, film photography with a DP.

At the Peles National Museum

• The museum will open the Theatre Room on the ground floor of Peles Castle, where those interested will receive information about the moment in 1911 when the first Romanian feature film, directed by Grigore Brezeanu, The Independence of Romania, was shot in this space.

At the National Opera of Cluj-Napoca

• Participates in the Sibiu Opera Festival with special film score production in partnership with the Sibiu State Philharmonic.

maia@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Călin)