Movie about corruption in Bulgaria, big winner of Romanian film festival

The 2018 edition of Cinepolitica, a festival dedicated to films with political themes, announced its winners on Sunday evening, April 22. The Cinepolitica trophy was won by Glory, a film directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, which is a social-realist parable exploring the themes of corruption, class differences, and the rural-urban gap in contemporary Bulgaria. The film has conquered both the audience and the Cinepolitica jury, for the way it “portrays the current Balkan politics, mixing a dramatic story with elements of comedy, but especially for the way in which a fiction film is constructed by specific means of a documentary film.” Meanwhile, Of Fathers and Sons, a rough and complex documentary directed by Talal Derki, which makes the audience share the intimacy of a family of Islamic fundamentalists, was awarded a Special Mention. The 2018 edition of Cinepolitica took place at the Elvire Popesco cinema and the Balassi Institute in Bucharest between April 18 and April 22. Its lineup comprised 16 fiction films and documentaries, including In The Fade directed by Fatih Akin, The Interpreter by Martin Sulik, and the debut feature film of Romanian director Daniel Sandu, One Step Behind the Seraphim. Daniel Sandu’s movie was the big winner of this year’s edition of the Gopo Awards, the event of the local film industry. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com