HotNews.ro contacted the Municipal Cultural Center of Arad (CMCA) and the Arad County Library, institutions where the film “Arseny. Viața de Apoi”, and asked for an explanation regarding the cancellation of the event, which was announced yesterday on Facebook by director Alexandru Solomon.

Two cultural institutions in Arad, in turn, refused to show a documentary film about Arseniy Bok directed by Alexander Solomon. The reasons were related to threats from the public.

The screening of the film was to take place at the Cinema Arta cinema, which is subordinate to the Municipal Cultural Center of Arad, which in turn is subordinate to the City Hall. The refusal came 48 hours before the event, the director of the center said that there had been some threats.

“If you dare to shoot a film, we will come there, and it will be a circus, we will make a scandal,” was the message that scared the representatives of the Cultural Center, whose role was published in the post by Alexandra Solomon. his Facebook page.

Later, the Citizenit association contacted the Arad County Library to broadcast the film there. Although they agreed at the first stage, they came back and said that the event could not take place.

We wanted to know what threats could justify the refusal to show a documentary film, whether the authorities were approached about these threats and to what extent institutions should yield to external pressure? I did not receive an answer to these questions, but I received information from the Municipal Cultural Center of Arad and a brief explanation from the library representatives regarding the cancellation of the event.

“Regarding concerted disinformation…”

The CMCA begins the information with some clarification “regarding the concerted misinformation that has appeared in the online press, social media and public opinion”, but continues by confirming what director Alexandru Solomon posted on the Facebook page.

Thus, the institution says that “when the advertising of the screening began, negative reactions to the film began to appear, some more restrained, others more sharp, from the residents of Arad.” Also, the decision was made on the basis of “the echo that arose from the screening of the film in other cities of the country.” So far, Arad is the only city that refused to show the film “Arseny. Afterlife”.

CMCA officials say they contacted the civic association and told them they wanted to postpone the event because of the threats.

According to the department, the Union of Citizens “categorically refused to postpone the event.” They added that “it is not important to draw the public’s attention to the fact that one of the important members of the citizenit Arad association is an employee of the director Alexandru Solomon, who undoubtedly could have had a decisive influence on the postponement agreement.”

Oana Furdea, a founding member of citizenit, which the representatives of the Center talk about in the information, says that the decision was made by all members of the team.

“I cooperate with One World Romania, but I don’t see how these things can be excluded. I am not responsible for the rental of the film “Arseny. Afterlife’ is something the director does on his own. Indeed, I cooperate with the association One World Romania, but it is not because we work together that we decided to cancel the show. It was a collective decision of all members of the association, because everything was planned and because we had already announced the screening in front of the public,” Furdea answers.

One World Romania was the first documentary film festival in Bucharest that took place in Romania at the initiative of the Czech Center. Later, the selection of films and the organization of the festival became autonomous, so the members of the festival team founded the Romanian One World Association, according to the association’s website. Aleksandru Solomon is part of the Management Committee of the Association.

Citizenit members took into account the costs, as well as the need to broadcast a documentary for the citizens of Arad.

“We were told that now is not a good time to postpone the show. Due to the fact that we discussed the arrival of Alek Solomon in Arad, we considered it inappropriate to postpone the screening, because there were also some transport costs involved from the distributor’s side,” Furdea continued.

In the information provided to CMCA, they stated that there was no written contract between them and citizenit. However, there was a verbal agreement. This is not the first time Citizenit has partnered with CMCA. “Overall, we have a good working relationship with CMCA. In this case, they did not want to cooperate with us, but over time they supported several projects,” adds Oana Furdea.

Vernissage yes, film yes

After the refusal of the Municipal Cultural Center of Arad, people from citizenit contacted the district library. “As private organizers, we were looking for another premises. We went to the library, where we were again offered consent in principle. They also contacted us from the library and said they don’t want any more,” explains Oana Furdea.

When we asked the library why it canceled the screening, we were told that they had scheduled a screening for the same day.

“Just yesterday we also had another event. It was rushed by me as a manager, and yesterday we had the opening of the painting,” says Gabriela Ungurianu, representative of the Arad County Library.

Ungurianu says that they did not receive any threats from unknown persons or from her superiors, who were not aware of her decision. Oana Furdea says that at first the library representatives told them that there would be no problem for the events to take place at the same time, since they were not held in the same room.

Indeed, the entrance to the space intended for the vernissage was through the inner courtyard, where the projection took place.

Finally, the show took place on the terrace of the Flex club in Arad, where discussions took place at the end of the show. No incident occurred. Oana Furdea says that they achieved their goal because they want to bring as many cultural events as possible to the public of Arada, so they did.