Culture Minister Raluka Turkan said there are profit-oriented films whose quality he does not want to discuss, saying the public’s tastes are diverse. She noted that at the same time we also have award-winning films abroad.

Noting that she had not actually been seen at film screenings, and Prime Minister Marcel Călăcu was present at Miami Beach, he asked how she stood in the controversy that arose after the latest Romanian films drew crowds in cinemas, but they also receive criticism from experts, Raluka Turkan replied:

• “I went to movie screenings. Just last year, I attended the premiere of Tudor Giurgiu’s Freedom, an exceptional film about the revolutionary moment in Sibiu. And now my skin hurts…. This is a very impressive film and history lesson, and I am glad that even the institutions that were involved in that moment of the 89 Revolution showed their openness to support and support the realization of this film.
• Now we have to change, there are commercial productions that are focused on profit, on filling theaters, with a quality that I, as the Minister of Culture, would not like to talk about, because the tastes of the public are different and in the end, the offer depends on what is expected public”.

She stated that there is a place for all cinematographic productions.

• “At the same time, we also have cinematographic works, exceptional cultural cinematographic works that are awarded abroad. The professionalism of directors, producers, actors, and artists is appreciated, they win the attention of critics, but there are fewer people in theaters.
• There is a place for all industries. And I, as Minister of Culture, have a responsibility to support cultural and cinematic creativity, and so, again, using all the things I’ve accumulated during my time as Deputy Prime Minister, I found that in the industry cinematography has two great unlearned lessons. The one that cost us terribly in terms of the trust of international partners, namely the support scheme for major cinema productions, where Romania was the only country to commit to implementing this support scheme for cinema in 2018, attracted investors and left them swollen. lip. All the countries around us have a similar scheme for supporting the cinematography and the legal part of the cinematography, which should be implemented as a support for newcomers, those who are at the beginning of the journey,” explained the Minister of Culture.

Raluka Tsurkan noted that there is a version of the law on cinematography, which will be submitted to the parliament for consideration.

• “And further, from the legal side of cinematography, we already have an option as to how the parliamentary vacation will end, it will be left to the consideration of the parliament so that we can support cultural, cinematographic, quality creativity and on the other hand, at the end of the year we finally managed to launch a support scheme cinematography, to restore the trust of international partners, and major cinematographic companies are already declaring their intentions to succeed in Romania. We employ exceptional film industry professionals ranging from producers, directors, costume designers, decorators, including stuntmen. These people are sought after because of what they know how to do.”

She added that Romania offers more than other countries from a cinematic point of view.

• “Moreover, Romania is a country that offers much more than other countries, even more in demand for cinematographic productions. What was missing was precisely this component of trust from some investors who came to put a lot of money on the table and invest. This cinema support scheme, to give you an idea, I told you that it exists at the level of the entire European Union, and the average return for the national economies of the countries that have this scheme is that one euro invested in the cinema industry brings, actually returns an average of eight euros of cash infusions into the economy. I went to Washington, where I had a meeting with the president of Motion Picture, and I already have extremely positive signals from other discussions I had with Romanian producers and representatives of the embassies. This year promises to be successful in terms of investment in the cinema industry.”

Raluka Tsurcan also mentioned the possibility of Americans coming to Romania and the film industry.

• “The Americans will certainly come, and I tell you that the Americans were there, and many of them struck a blow against the Romanian state by putting this scheme on paper, not by implementing it. In other words, a lie made at the level of a decision of the Romanian state. Something deeply shocking and extremely shameful. I’m glad we made it. This is an exceptional signal of confidence in the entire industry and in us as a country that we were able to give,” she said. (News.ro)