Director of collective Alexander Nanau Refuses Romanian National Honour
BUCHAREST: Internationally acclaimed documentary director Alexander Nanau has turned down the “Cultural Merit” medal from Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on the occasion of Romania’s Day of National Culture celebrated on 15 January 2021. The Emmy-award winning director is protesting the lack of government support for the film industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a filmmaker who at this moment is attracting the biggest international attention to the Romanian culture and cinema, I consider it would be hypocrisy to accept this decoration since the cinema and its institutional structures are brain dead. From March 2020 till now the authorities not only have refused to address this topic, but moreover have aggravated it by neglect and lack of initiative,” Nanau said in a letter posted on Facebook on 12 January 2021 and widely distributed in the media and on social platforms.
Earthquakes Damage House of Croatian Film Forcing Filmmakers to Move Out
House of Croatian Film
ZAGREB: A new series of strong earthquakes that hit Croatia on 11 January 2021 have led to the closure of the House of Croatian Film located in the Zagreb city centre. The new earthquakes added to the damage caused by the devastating earthquake that hit Zagreb in March 2020, and the House of Croatian film was deemed unsafe and is closed until further notice.
Following an engineering assessment of the damages, the building got a red label, which means entering it might pose a life-threatening risk. Zagreb Film immediately warned the tenants they’d be entering the premises at their own risk and announced the closure of the building until further notice. HAVC followed up with a statement, urging filmmakers to steer clear of the damaged building and contact them through means of electronic communication.
SOFIA: UK based Reel 2 Reel Films will launch the release of the sarcastic thriller
Danny. Legend. God. by Bulgarian-born director Yavor Petkov, currently living and working in London.
The deal was negotiated by Hewes Pictures, handling the worldwide distribution rights. It provides a release through all platforms across North America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland in 2021. Hewes Pictures has also landed a NYC theatrical release that will begin the week leading up to the film s VOD release date.
An expert in financial crime prevention himself, Yavor Petkov wrote, directed and produced his feature debut through his UK company Shipka in cooperation with Bulgaria’s Debut Film as executive producer.
Miami Bici by Jesús del Cerro
BUCHAREST: Domestic box office in Romania fell by less than 20 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, as the comedy
Miami Bici by Jesús del Cerro broke records with 2,382,001 EUR / 11,603,217 RON gross, which is more than double of the result of
Oh, Ramona! by Cristina Jacob, the domestic hit of 2019.
Miami Bici also tops the general box office. General box office results, however, were hit hard in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Miami Bici was released on 20 February 2020 and managed to rack up 552,238 admissions (according to Cinemagia) in only four weeks, before the pandemic broke.
Quo Vadis, Aida? by Jasmila Žbanić
SARAJEVO: The total 2020 box office in Bosnia and Herzegovina dropped by 70%, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the domestic box office showed a 786% growth, from 4,425 EUR / 8,654 KM in 2019 to 39,224 EUR / 76,715.5 KM. Admissions to domestic films increased by 438% from 2,322 in 2019 to 12,499 in 2020.
American films dominated the Bosnian and Herzegovinian box office in 2020, but with a visible decrease in share, from 83.59% in 2019 to 72.52% in 2020. Conversely, domestic film showed a rise in the market share from 0.18% in 2019 to 3.23% in 2020.
A new distribution model has been used in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time. Jasmila Žbanić’s