The festival from the Croisette almost knocks on the door and we won`t be there. We have no films included in any selection, but Romania received the honour of having Cristian Mungiu as the president of the Cinefondation, Short Film jury.
Still, the choir of the outraged whiners finds some explanations. How can this be possible? WE were present from the very first edition (September, the 25th – October, the 5th 1946) with two films:
The Queen`s Flower / Floare one also for short film in 2004 (
Traffic / Trafic by Cătălin Mitulescu) and especially the one for a feature film in 2007 (
432 by Cristian Mungiu). WE had Liviu Ciulei as the Best director in 1965 for his
The Forest of the Hanged / Pădurea spânzuraților. Next year WE received the “Opera prima” award for
The Uprising / Răscoala, even if in Mircea Mureșan`s filmography, it was his second film.
In 2006 WE received the “Camera d`or” award with
12:08 East of Bucharest / A fost sau n-a fost? directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, who at that time was at his debut; he returned in 2015 when he received the “Un certain talent” award for
The Treasure / Comoara. In 2006 WE received the “Best Actress” award in the “Un certain regard” section, award which was invented thanks to the jury`s fascination for Dorotheea Petre in
The Way I Spent the End of the World / Cum mi-am petrecut sfârșitul lumii. Last year WE had two feature films in the official competition (
Graduation / Bacalaureat and
Sieranevada) and one in the “Un certain regard” section (
Dogs / Câini). We have Cristian Mungiu, whose feature films receive one trophy from each edition they are in. And last, but not least, WE brought Cannes to Bucharest and we defy the generalized anglophilia, by writing „Les films de Cannes à Bucarest” with big letters on the festival posters.
WE can`t accept the prognostic that some people launched: “Ok, let the Bulgarians win something too!”?!
The truth is that we love Cannes. We find the delicate palm branch stronger than the Berlin bear and than the Venice lion. And the annual cue to the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film, next to some other 200 candidates, is nothing but a parlour game. And Cannes loves us back, more than Berlin and way far more than Venice. It just wasn`t meant to be this year. And as Ma`am Zoițica would say at the end the “The Lost Letter”: “it`s not the last elections”.
Translation: Iulia Necoara
