Romania protests supported on the red carpets of international film festivals

Some of the Romanian actors, directors, and producers present at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) and the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) have shown their support for the protests currently taking place in Romania. Almost all the Romanians active in the cinema industry who were present at the Berlinale last evening participated in a protest on the red carpet. Among them, there were well-known Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu, directors Oana Giurgiu, Andrei Cretulescu, and Anca Damian, Romanian producer Ada Solomon, and actress Crina Semciuc. They held two signs saying “Romanian cinema #rezist.” #rezist is the hashtag used on social media networks for the massive protests in Romania, which have been organized across the country in the past two weeks. Berlinale is currently ongoing, and will end on February 19.

Meanwhile, Romanian actor Levente Molnar, present in London for the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), held a sign that said “#rezist” on the red carpet, in support of the protests in Romania (opening picture). Levente Molnar plays Abraham in the Academy Award-winning film Son of Saul. The Hungarian drama also won the Film Not in English Language award at BAFTA last year. In Romania, the protests continued on Sunday evening, for the 13th consecutive day. In Bucharest, some 50,000 people lit up the flashlights of their phones and created Romania’s flag using papers colored in red, yellow, and blue. Protests were also staged in other Romanian cities on Sunday, as well as abroad in cities such as Berlin, London, Manchester, Prague, Toronto, Montreal, and New York. Many famous artists in Romania have joined the protests or launched support messages for the protesters in the past two weeks. Romanian film premieres at 2017 Berlinale in competition line-up Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com