In Short(S) About the New Romanian Cinema (Short Films) (Essay‪)‬

At the beginning of the 1990s, the French Institute in Bucharest organized a festival for post-1989 Romanian films. After the screenings, Alex. Leo Serban, one of the most insightful film critics of the New Romanian Cinema, concluded: "... [N]u exista cinematografie romaneasca demna de acest nume!" ("... [T] here is no Romanian cinema worthy of this name!") ("Despre un cinematograf care nu exista" 17). (1) Fragmented, under-funded, with no coherent distribution system, and increasingly short of theaters and spectators, the Romanian film industry had little chance of international visibility and recognition. (2) Surprisingly, short films, often perceived as second-hand relatives of their longer counterparts, soon announced a new generation of filmmakers and prepared the grounds for their international acclaim. In the process, something unanticipated happened: short films also gained in importance as a distinct, respectable film genre. The Romanian directors' journey to the red carpet has not been straightforward or easy. They have had to become both business-savvy and particularly resilient in order to succeed, but making short films provided them with the training they needed. Several considerations on the business of short films