The Austrian-German co-production “Great Freedom” (2021) won the great prize at the ninth edition of Ceau, Cinema! Festival from Timişoara, while the audience award went to the Polish film “Leave No Traces” (2021).
The Ceau, Cinema! Trophy “Răzvan Georgescu”, in amount of € 1.000, granted by Groupama Ensurance, went to the Austrian director Sebastian Meise. The audience award, of € 500, granted by the festival, went to the Polish director Jan P. Matuszynski.
This year’s jury was made of directors Eugen Jebeleanu and Cristina Groşan.
“Evoking the atrocities of the recent past of a European country where homosexuality was punished with many years of prison, this year’s winner is a film manifest on love as an extremely painful scream of people who are silenced. But how many untold stories on this matter are still being kept hidden in Romania’s recent past? The quality of the screenplay, the image dynamics, the clarity of the editing, the flawless acting of the cast, the direction complexity and many other aspects make this film a genuine masterpiece”, was the jury’s motivation for choosing to grant the Trophy “Răzvan Georgescu” to “Great Freedom”.
The jury also decided to give a special award to actress Elisheva Weil, who played in the Israeli film “All Eyes Off Me” (2021, d. Hadas Ben Aroya), because, “navigating with a disarming natural approach between force and vulnerability, tenderness and passivity, the performance of the actress draws new limits of intimacy on the big screen”.
The ninth edition of Ceau, Cinema!, which took place during July 14th – 17th, meant four days of more than 40 films, workshops, debates, actor and guest talks.
The Romanian films “Metronom” (2022), which opened the festival, in the presence of the director Alexandru Belc and the young actress from Timișoara Mara Bugarin, and “R.M.N.” (2022), in the presence of the director Cristian Mungiu, also had full house screenings.
A wide audience attended the screenings from Traian Square, as well as those from the Capitol Outdoor Theatre. The meeetings with directors Eugen Jebeleanu, Cristina Groşan and Alina Grigore, the classic films, the productions from Banat region or the films and workshops for the young audience were also well-received. As a premiere, Ceau, Cinema! organized two screenings accessible for visually impaired persons.
Those who did not have the possibility to see, during the festival, the documentary “The Road Ahead – Via Transilvanica” (2022), by Mircea Gherase, will have the opportunity to catch up and see it on 23rd of July, at 10 p.m., at the Roman-Catholic Curch in the village of Bobda, within a special screening, free entry, in collaboration with the Association ”Prin Banat”.
Ceau, Cinema! Festival is dedicated to European cinema and is organized by the Associations Pelicula Culturală and Marele Ecran.
Funded by Timișoara CityHall, through the Project Center.
Project funded by the Timiș County Council through the Nonrefundable Funding Program TimCultura 2022.
Co-funded by the National Center of Cinematography.
Sponsors: Groupama Ensurance, HELLA Romania, Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim.
Main cultural partners: the German Cultural Center from Timişoara, the Polish Institute from Bucharest, the Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, the Liszt Institute – the Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest, the French Institute from Timișoara, the Czech Center Bucharest.
Cu sprijinul: Porsche Timişoara, Little Hanoi, Ibis Timisoara City Center, Tazz, Vinto, InLight Center, Animest, ”Cartea Călătoare” Foundation, ”Ceva de Spus” Association, ”Cetăţean de Traian” Association, Faber, LOGS, Cinema Victoria, Banat National Museum, ”Prin Banat” Association, Timişoara la cutie, the House of Arts – the County Direction for Culture Timiş, Gottlob Mairie, European Parliament Office for Romania, One World Romania, Claudia Roşu, La Două Bufniţe, Cinemazero Cultural Association, Ovride, iaBilet, Hostel Cornel, Mononom.
Media partners: Kiss FM, All about Romanian Cinema (AaRC), Ziarul Metropolis.