Romanian Movies & Films Resources

The initial screening of Romanian clips took place on May 27, 1896 in the editorial offices L'Independence Roumaine , the French newspaper based in Bucharest. It was in May 1897 that the first Romanian newsreels were produced and in 1912 that the first Romanian Movie "Independenta României" ("Romania's Independence") was screened.

Romanian filmmaking began due to the efforts of some amateurs. It was in the 1930’s that a more significant development took place with the introduction of state subsidies towards the Romanian filmmaking.

After the World War II, the Romanian film industry evolved within the constraint set by the general cultural policy in the country. The initial films, which were made in the Stalinist period, spoke largely of the poorly developed film making tradition and an idealizing message. The initial Romanian movies were mostly based on works by the Romanian writers.

The first noticeable Romanian Movie was produced in 1957 and was called "Moara cu noroc" (The Lucky Mill). Director Victor Iliu directed this movie. In 1965, "Padurea spanzuratilor" (The Forest of the Hanged), which was the third film directed by Liviu Ciulei was awarded the prize for best direction in Cannes.

In the area of Animated Romanian Movies also some notable successes were achieved. The founder of animated movies in Romania was Ion Popescu-Gopo. He was the person who was responsible for the Romanian cartoon school.

After the collapse of communism, the much-awaited freedom of expression in filmmaking did not work out to the Romanian moviemaker advantage as expected earlier. This was because of the resulting economic crisis and the scrapping of state subsidies.

The stiff and tough competition provided by the newest foreign films deprives the Romanian Movies of a very large audience.

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