Romanian film review – Euro-Tripping: European Film Festival in Bucharest and Târgu Mureș

The European Film Festival is turning 18 this year. Organised by the Romanian Cultural Institute, the fest has gone through good and difficult times (especially during the last two years, when the institute faced massive changes in financing and staffing and became a political issue) and it's good to see it “come of age”, to quote this year's official festival motto. The fest kicked off yesterday and will end on May 18.

The project is neither as glamurous as TIFF or as specialised as One World Romania or niche festivals but offers a colourful, eclectic trip through Europe and this is also its strongest asset. It's an unabashedly fun festival, especially from the point of view of the selection: I can't think of any other festival in Romania, apart from Comedy Cluj, screening so many comedies and audience darlings.

It may be quite mainstream but if one looks at the

pathetically small number of cinema-goers in this country

, it's the best and most exciting way of luring audiences into theatres.

There's family comedies (

Adieu Berthe – L'enterrement de mémé/

Granny's Funeral

),

coming-out

comedies (

Les garçons et Guillaume, à table!/Me, Myself and Mum

), rom-coms (

Una pistola en cada mano/A Gun in Each Hand

) and

-

why not

-

m

ob

comedies (

È stato il figlio/It Was the Son

).

Don't be fooled by the 'easier' fare though, it also shows some of the most stark and artistically ambitious productions of the past years. The so-called Greek New Wave is particularly well-represented: