Cinematography

The first cinema projections in Romania, of Lumiere films, took placee on May 27, 1896 in the editorial offices of the newspaper of French expression "L'Independence Roumaine" in Bucharest; in May 1897 the first Romanian newsreels were produced and in 1912 the first Romanian feature film Independenta României/"Romania's Independence" was shown.

The beginnings of Romanian film making were due to amateurs. A more significant development took place in the 1930s, with the introduction of state subsidies. After World War II, the film industry evolved within the general cultural policy. Apart from the ideological control, the financial support received from the state, which owned the film production and distribution companies, created conditions for the expansion and diversificaton of the film production (around 20-30 films were annually produced in the 1970s). The first films of the Stalinist period evinced the poorly developed film making tradition and an ideologising message, being mostly based on works by Romanian writers. The first notable film was produced in 1957: Moara cu noroc/The Luky Mill, by director Victor Iliu (1912-1968). In 1965, Padurea spanzuratilor/The Forest of the Hanged, the third film of director Liviu Ciulei (who later switched to theatre, starting an international career), was awarded the prize for best direction in Cannes.

Notable successes were obtained also in the area of animated cartoons, the founder of which was I. Popescu-Gopo (who won the Grand Prix in Cannes in 1957 for his Scurta istorie/Short History). Film director Sergiu Nicolaescu became well-known through his great number of films of all kinds which attracted huge number of spectators.

After the collapse of communism, the much coveted freedom of creation could not be turned to best account, the way film makers had hoped, because of the economic crisis and the scrapping of state subsidies (so the film production has shrumk to 10-15 film per year). Aprominent role in the Romanian film industry today is played by directors Lucian Pintilie, Mircea Daneliuc, Dan Pita (who received the Silver Lion trophy at the Film Festival in Venice in 1992), Nae Caranfil, Radu Gabra a.o.

Moreover, the competition with the newest foreign films brought over by an already powerful private distribution network deprives the Romanian film production of large audience. In the '70s and '80s about 120-150 films were imported every year, mainly from Central and East-European states. The number of cinema halls increased from 338, in 1938, to 6,275 in the '70s and that of the spectators followed a similar trend, from 41 million to 198 million persons. In the '90s the number of cinema halls and seats in cinema halls, as well as the number of film performances dropped dramatically. The number of spectators, 190-200 million persons per year, in the '80s decreased to 130 million in 1990 and only 12,5 million in 1996.

Usefull link about Romanian cinematography: Romanian Cinematography CINEMA

Cinemas in Bucharest Program Cinema, TV, Theatre Program

Last update: 2003, March 7
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