Romania allocates EUR 100,000 for Cristian Mungiu’s Oscar campaign, 500 times less than Spain

Director Cristian Mungiu’s latest film, “Fjord,” is Romania’s entry for an Oscar in the foreign productions section in 2027, but its campaign for the award benefits from only EUR 100,000, an amount 500 times smaller than the one invested by Spain in its entry, "La Bola Negra."

The new culture minister, Ioana Ciocan, commented on the issue during an interview on Digi24, and she admitted that the favorite for the award is the film from Spain, in part due to its large promotion budget.

“Cristian Mungiu could make the most fabulous film on the face of the Earth, but he has an election campaign of sorts to carry out. He has to convince the Academy’s 12,000 members to vote for him. These members must have access to his film, the film must be distributed everywhere, and there must be television appearances; it is a Sisyphean task. It is an extremely difficult undertaking. I don’t know if we will succeed, but we will try,” Ioana Ciocan explained.

Ciocan argued that the Culture Ministry must address “countless things” related to Romania’s museums, theaters, and cinema, with a small staff.

“Of course, Romanian cinema and living culture must be supported, and Cristian Mungiu is precisely that, Romania’s living culture, and I believe that together we will be able to do everything we can to perhaps save the remains of the cinemas that are now in disrepair,” she said.

The minister argued that in 1989, Romania had more than 600 cinemas, out of which only about 60 remain. Sorely lacking is also a large cinema hall that would be used to promote Romanian productions like “Fjord.”

“I also spoke with Cristian Mungiu, just before he came to you this evening. And, of course, we were wondering what a large cinema hall means for Romanian cinema; just how large does large mean? Roughly how big is the audience? How can we make audiences fall in love again with a cinema that has a more specific profile, compared, say, with an American blockbuster?” the minister said.

Earlier this month, Cristian Mungiu's movie made a strong debut at the North American box office, earning USD 124,000 from just four cinemas in New York and Los Angeles.