Romanian National Film Center awards $6.5m to new wave of features

The single largest award — $490,000 — went to Libra Film for Despre oameni si melci. Director Tudor Giurgiu is also president of the Transilvania International Film Festival and a producer of such films as Ashes And Blood and Katalin Varga. His 2006 film Love Sick screened at Berlin.

Strada Film received approximately $380,000 (RON 1,269,909) for El Rumano, from director/screenwriter Catalin Mitulescu, which tells the story of a Romanian immigrant in Spain. The award represents a little less than half the project’s estimated $927,000 budget. Mitulescu is best known for his 2006 Un Certain Regard title How I Spent The End Of The World. He also co-wrote the script for Strada Film’s Silver Bear-winner If I Want To Whistle I Whistle.

Casaro Film was given $328,000 for its project Doar cu buletinul la Paris, with director Horatio Malaele and script by Denis Dinulescu. A veteran actor, Malaele’s previous film as director was Silent Wedding (2008).

Iguanele, directed by Marian Crisan and produced by Mandragora Movies, received $325,000. Mandragora produced Cannes titles The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu and Aurora as well as Crisan’s Morgen, which recently won the Special Jury Prize in Locarno.

Hi Film Production’s project Toata lumea din familia noastra was awarded $300,000. The family drama is directed and co-written by Radu Jude. Hi Film produced Jude’s 2009 film, The Happiest Girl In The World, which won the CICAE award in Berlin. Jude was assistant director to Cristi Puiu on The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu.#

The CNC awarded $320,000 to Filmex Film for Elisabeta Rizea, Constantin Popescu’s follow-on to his Berlinale Forum title Portrait Of The Fighter As A Young Man.Popescu also contributed the Pig segment to omnibus film Tales From The Golden Age.

4 Proof Film earned $293,000 for its project Domestic, from director-screenwriter Adrian Sitaru.

Sitaru’s previous film, Angling, won a Special Jury Award at Thessaloniki in 2008 and the New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize in Palm Springs in 2009.

Media Pro Pictures and Ro De Film received $467,000 and $238,000, respectively, for Ultimul corupt al Romaniei (dir. Sergiu Nicolaescu) and A doua sansa (Geo Saizescu)

A $243,000 award to Artis Film Romania for the project Bonded has resulted in a outcry in the Romanian industry. After receiving the award, Artis Film announced that director Adrian Popovci will serve only as assistant director to Mo Ramchandani, who wrote the script. Ramchandani previously served as associate producer on Roger Nygard’s (Trekkies) documentary The Nature Of Existence and other films. Bonded was previously reported to star Alfred Molina, Pierce Brosnan and Sean Brosnan, with Brosnan’s Irish Dream Time as a producer. Neither Artis Film nor Irish Dream Time could be reached for comment.

Five debut projects received an additional $1.3m in funding, including $296,000 for Bogdan Mustata’s Wolf, which recently received the Eurimages Award at Cinelink in Sarajevo.