Ceau, Cinema! Festival celebrated ten years together with the audience and its guests. A CineConcert, no less than 30 films, meetings with more than 20 Romanian and foreign filmmakers, debates, workshops, an anniversary exhibition and a book release were included in the program of the anniversary edition, which took place between July 12th-16th in Timişoara.
Over 3.500 viewers attended the screening and the events of the tenth edition, and each of the four debate panels on film festivals, arthouse cinemas and cinema education programs was watched online by hundreds of persons.
The Ceau, Cinema! Trophy ”Răzvan Georgescu” for the best film in competition went to the Polish production ”Bread and Salt” (2022), by Damian Kocur, which also won the Audience Award. The jury, made of the actress Ioana Iacob and the directors Paul Negoescu and Vlad Petri, ”appreciated the directorial approach, the outstanding ability of storytelling and the subtlety that the director handled, without being subjective, important themes of the present time”. The jury decided to grant a special prize to actress Glory Kevin from the Italian film ”Princess” (2022, directed by Roberto de Paolis), for ”the candor, the versatility and vehemence that she addressed the role with”.
The Ceau, Cinema! Trophy ”Răzvan Georgescu” amounts € 1.000, and the Audience Award is € 500, both of them being granted by Groupama Insurance.
The Romanian premieres were the most successful screenings. ”Another Lottery Ticket” (2023), by Paul Negoescu, and ”Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife” (2023), by Alexandru Solomon, were full house. Just like the German production ”We Might As Well Be Dead” (2022), with actress Ioana Iacob from Timișoara in the leading role.
Of high interest were also the screenings of ”Ordinary Failures” (2022), by Cristina Groşan, ”Between Revolutions” (2023), by Vlad Petri, and the films from Banat region, all of them introduced to the public in the presence of the filmmakers.
The CineConcert held by the local musician Petre Ionuţescu in the opening of the festival and the outdoor screenings at ”Capitol Open Air” were also very appreciated. Moreover, hundreds of viewers also visited the anniversary exhibition at the House of Arts.
The participants at ”Ceau, Cineva!” workshop, supported by Vitas Romania, had learned, during four days, the first steps in scriptwriting, under the coordination of the filmmaker Cristina Groşan.
The viewers also had the opportunity to discover a series of films and guests from Norway, within a focus dedicated to Norwegian cinema and organized in collaboration with Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF).
The panels and the Focus Norway section made part of a project funded by EEA and Norway Grants. The main objective of this project is to strengthen the bilateral relation between Romania and Norway, developing a bridge through film.
Ceau, Cinema! Festival is dedicated to European cinema and is organized by the Association Pelicula Culturală and founded together with the Association Marele Ecran.
The project is part of the National Cultural Programme „Timișoara–European Capital of Culture in 2023” and is funded through the programme European Echoes, conducted by the Center for Projects Timișoara, with amounts allotted from the state budget, through the Ministry of Culture budget.
Sponsors: Vitas Romania, Groupama Insurance.
Funded by: the Romanian Film Center.
Partners: Marele Ecran Association, Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF), the German Cultural Center from Timişoara, the Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, the Polish Institute Bucharest, the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest, the Czech Center Bucharest, the Embassy of Spain, Cervantes Institute from Bucharest, the Italian Cultural Institute from Bucharest, the French Institute from Timișoara, The French Institute from Bucharest.
With the support of: Association Timișoara 2023 – European Capital of Culture, Ceva de Spus Association, Cartea Călătoare Foundation, Cinema Victoria, Animest, Ibis Timisoara City Center, TAZZ, Faber, Porsche Timișoara, Ovride, Timişoara la cutie, The House of Arts– the County Direction for Culture Timiş, Oskar Foto, Atelier Print, The Romanian Order of Architects –Timiş Branch, Timișoara House of Culture, Claudia Roşu.
Media partners: All about Romanian Cinema (AaRC), West City Radio, Ziarul Metropolis.