Romanian film director Cristian Mungiu has received the French honor l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to cinema in a ceremony at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. Mungiu is a member of the jury at this year's event and has won awards at Cannes in previous years, including the Palme d'Or in 2007. Indian director Anurag Kashyap also received the same honor yesterday (May 20).

“The harsh realism of your films gives a tragicomic view of social and political realities through the biting irony of your perspective,” said Aurélie Filippetti with Thierry Fremaux, general delegate and selector at Cannes, quoted by Le Parisien.

The French Minister of Culture, called Cristian Mungiu “the leader of a new generation of Romanian and European filmmakers (...) determined to turn the page of the Ceausescu era cinema,” according to Le Parisen. On receiving the award, Mungiu said that investing in education and culture was the only solution for Romania.

Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or for his film 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days/4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile in 2007. Last year, his latest film Beyond the Hills/Dupa Dealuri got the Award for Best Screenplay. Also, Romanian actresses Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan shared the best actress award for their parts as Alina and Voichița in the film.

editor@romania-insider.com