Romanian director rejects medal in protest of the suffering of cinema

Romanian director Alexander Nanao refused to receive a medal awarded to him by the Romanian President, after winning the admiration of the public and critics for his documentary “Collective”, which deals with a fire in a nightclub that resulted in deaths, and Nanao wanted his step to be a protest against indifference towards the cultural sector in a time of pandemic. Covid-19 ».

“It would be a huge hypocrisy on my part to accept this medal at a time when the film industry is suffering clinical death,” wrote Nanao (41 years), in a letter to President Klaus Iohannes.

The director was recently informed of Yohannes’s decision to award him the “Cultural Merit” award, on the occasion of the Romanian Culture Day on January 15th.

However, Nanau argued that the Romanian authorities should instead celebrate this day, implement concrete solutions to save the sector, because most of the production companies, independent theaters, cinemas and distribution companies will already be closed when the health crisis ends.

And Bucharest confirmed in recent months that the film sector would receive official aid, but a number of workers in this field said that these promises remained on paper.