So let’s start with it: Bucharest\u2019s Europa cinema<\/a> (formerly Miori\u021ba) is one of the few formerly state-owned cinemas before 1989 still in function. And most remarkable, also a very old one; it opened in 1935. Since late 2024, it has been coordinated by a marvelous group of very young film enthusiasts and turned into a warm, welcoming space, on site and online. Their Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>\u00a0pages are lively, responsive, adorable. You can read more<\/a> (in Romanian) about the volunteering team and the challenge\u00a0to revive a cinema (and also how you can support it).<\/p>\n The weeks are curated by topics and the past one was dedicated to the\u00a0Cannes<\/a> film festival. One of the major events worldwide, the French fest wrapped on Saturday, and Europa showed past winners. I will list a few faves here: Justine Triet\u2019s gripping, clever Anatomy of a Fall<\/em>, Alice Rohrwacher\u2019s wondrous La Chimera<\/em>, Payal Kapadia\u2019s luminous All We Imagine as Light, <\/em>Bong Joon Ho\u2019 fantastically <\/em>dark\u00a0Parasite<\/em>. And what a joy to go back further in time and include Federico Fellini\u2019s La Dolce Vita <\/em>(1960), which really needs no introduction. The programme of the next week is Yearning. Who can resist a good romance, especially with so many classic comfort pics? From Norman Jewison\u2019s iconic Moonstruck, <\/em>one the best, most down-to-earth rom-coms, and his zany Only You<\/em> (again, all the love for Marisa Tomei) to\u00a0 my all-time favourite Paul Thomas Anderson film, Punch Drunk Love<\/em> (a distinct, eccentric power ode to love) to Wong Kar Wai\u2019s breathtaking In the Mood for Love<\/em> (must-see on a big screen), Ang Lee\u2019s heartbreaking Brokeback Mountain<\/em>, Todd Haynes\u2019s stylish Carol<\/em>, Luca Guadagnino\u2019s rapturous Call Me By Your Name<\/em> and C\u00e9line Sciamma\u2019s luminous Portrait of a Lady on Fire<\/em>. The last four are passionate queer stories, and I am a particular fan the latter, an impassioned take on the female gaze and desire, and being a woman artist. All are absolute hits and worthy of endless re-watches, and I am delighted to see the diversity in the mix: mainstream, arthouse, US, European, non-European films, many female directors, neurodivergent or queer characters. I haven\u2019t been following the cinema’s curation too closely but I promise to have it on my radar from now on because I loved their past events: Geek Week, Marvel vs DC, Female Rage, La Dolce Nouvelle (mixing mostly Italian Neorealism and the Nouvelle Vague, basically two of the most influential currents of European cinema).<\/p>\n Also in Bucharest, but just as the starting point, is KineDok<\/a>, an initiative that brings recent documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe to unconventional spaces.\u00a0Organised by One World Romania Association, it reaches more places: Cluj-Napoca on 27 May, Suceava on 28 May, and Oradea on 4 June. Don\u2019t miss Igor Bezinovi\u0107\u2019s Fiume o morte!<\/em>, a high-energy, mischievous, brilliant mix of archive footage and staged scenes about the period between autumn 1919 and beginning of 1920 when the Croatian town of Rijeka, on the northern Adriatic coast, was turned into a proto-fascist city-state. Keep an eye on their Facebook page<\/a> for Updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n The aforementioned One World Romania<\/a> festival of documentary dedicated to human rights wrapped its on-site edition a month ago and will continue online with selected titles until 31 May. The international documentary festival for human rights has been consistently excellent, intentional, and community-building. This year turned out to have been a massive challenge, with substantially less financing, leading to an \u201causterity\u201d edition. Kudos to the team for being transparent about it all, and initiating discussions about resources, whether financial, work and otherwise, and opening the debate for what it takes to work in the field of culture, human rights, and education. There is not one title to favour\u00a0 in the current online line-up<\/a> but I will say that Lee Anne Schmitt\u2019s Evidence<\/em> made such an impression on me when I saw it, a rigorous, damning take on the spread of far-right ideology in the US. Enraging, enlightening and urgent.<\/p>\n By Ioana Moldovan, film columnist: <\/em>ioana.moldovan@romania-insider.com<\/em><\/a>
\nPicture info & credit:\u00a0the team of cinema Europa, courtesy of their Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n