Romanian film Sieranevada lands six prizes at local industry awards

Romanian director’s Cristi Puiu’s latest feature film, Sieranevada, was awarded six times at the Gopo Awards, the local film industry yearly gala, which took place on March 21. Puiu’s film, which was in the run for last year’s Palme d’Or, won the awards for Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Script, and Best Editing. The awards for directing, best script and best film went to Cristi Puiu, while Dana Dogaru took home the Best Actress award. Ana Ciontea received the Best Supporting Actress award, while Letiția Ștefănescu and Ciprian Cimpoi were granted the Best Editing award. Romanian thriller Caini (Dogs), directed by Bogdan Mirică, also received six awards. It was granted the Best Leading Actor award, which went to Gheorghe Visu; the Best Supporting Actor award, given to Vlad Ivanov; the Best Image award, for the work of Andrei Butică; the Best Sound award, given to Sam Cohen, Sebastian Zsemlye, and Herve Buirette; the Best Original Soundtrack award, for the work of Codrin Lazăr and Sorin Romanescu; and the Best Debut Film award, granted to director Bogdan Mirică. Inimi Cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts), directed by Radu Jude, took home four prizes: the Best Image award, given to Marius Panduru; Best Sets, for the work of Cristian Niculescu; Best Costumes, for the work of Dana Păpăruz; and Best Makeup and Hair, for the work of Bianca Boeroiu and Domnica Bodogan. At the same time, image director Marius Panduru received the award of the Romanian Society of Cinematographers RSC also for the film Scarred Hearts. The Best Short Film award went to 4:15 PM Sfârșitul lumii (4:15 PM The End of the World), directed by Cătălin Rotaru and Gabi Virginia Șarga, and produced by Adina Sădean and Alex Crăciun. The Best Documentary award was given to Doar o răsuflare (Only a breath), directed by Monicăi Lăzurean-Gorgan, and produced by Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, Hanka Kastelicova, Alina David and Andra Radu. Producer Anamaria Antoci received the Young Hope award for her work on the film Illegitimate. Son of Saul, directed by Laszlo Nemes, was named the Best European Film distributed in Romania in 2016. The Audience Award for the biggest box office success in 2016 went to Selfie 69, directed by Cristina Iacob and to Două lozuri (Two Lots), directed by Paul Negoescu. Selfie 69 had 133,207 viewers and box office sales of almost RON 2.3 million. Two Lots had 127,513 viewers and box office sales of RON 2.4 million. At the same gala, Romanian actor Ion Dichiseanu received the award for the entire career, while actor Valentin Uritescu received the award for the entire activity.