It is unlikely that any of the domestic films announced for the rest of year will beat the success of Cristina Iacob’s debut feature.
Seven Romanian films including the minority coproduction Canibal hit the domestic cinemas by the end of July 2014 with a general attendance of 122,378 and box office of 337,370 EUR/ 1,484,428 RON. Nine domestic titles sold 148,992 tickets in the first six months of 2013 of which 102,748 tickets sold by Călin Peter Netzer’s Child’s Pose / Poziţia copilului (Parada Film) alone. The box office was 380,811 EUR/ 1,675,571 RON in the first six months of 2013, according to Asociaţia Film România.
The most successful Romanian film so far in 2014 is #Selfie, the debut feature of Cristina Iacob (MediaPro Entertainment Romania, ZAZU Film), which number 31 on the charts with admissions of 84,010 and 256,220 EUR/ 1,127,369 RON box office in 12 weeks, according to Cinemagia.
The 99 films released sold 5,204,488 tickets so far, with box office of 21,804,199 EUR/ 95,938,476 RON. The rest of 2014 is expected to bring the same number of domestic premieres but many of them are independent debut features. The general trend is a diversification of genres.
The feature debut of Răzvan Săvescu, America Here We Come / America, venim! (Libra Film) could be a good contender at the box office since it’s a comedy about a group of Romanian actors travelling to the USA. Love Bus (expected to open on 22 August) is a portmanteau independent film produced by Papillon Film and directed by freshly graduates from UNATC Roxana Andrei, Mihai Mincan, Constantin Radu Vasile, Florin Babei and Andrei Georgescu.
Kiki Vasilescu’s debut feature Therapy for Murder / Terapie pentru crimă (EastMovies) an independent black comedy featuring the famous Romanian pop singer Claudia Pavel aka Cream was expected to open in June, as the director told FNE back in April.
Andrei Gheorghe is also expected to release his first film this year, the independent production It Takes Two to Fence / Planşa (DaKino Productions), and Diud Film, a love story triangle in the world of fencing, and the same goes for Dragoş Iuga with his first feature The Little Spartan / Micul spartan (Temple Film, and Yakasha Film), a mockumentary/fantasy which was expected as far back as 2011.
Helmer Dan Piţa’s adaptation after Panait Istrati’s classical novel Kyra Kyralina (Castel Film) will open on 5 September, and the second film of Andrei Gruzsniczki, the 80's political drama Quod erat demonstrandum is announced for 10 October after winning prizes abroad.
