Romania's filmmakers win kudos

Wang Yao, 29, a doctoral candidate at Beijing Film Academy who focuses on Eastern European films, said Romanian filmmakers have improved greatly over the past decade, even winning recognition at international film festivals.

"What we call the Romanian 'New Wave' started from the early 21st century, starting with a bunch of short films traveling around the international film festivals, riding high with a group of new film auteurs and their low-budget, realistic, social-issue-driven features winning awards in main festivals," he said.

The Cannes Film Festival has been the most important platform for the Romania's New Wave filmmakers.

In 2005, Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr Lazarescu won the Un Certain Regard prize, followed by Corneliu Porumboiu's 12:08 East of Bucharest, which won the Golden Camera the next year.

The 60th Cannes festival in 2007 honored two more Romanian films. Cristian Mungiu's 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, which focuses on the issue of abortion, won the Palme d'Or prize, the top prize on offer. California Dreamin' by Cristian Nemescu won the Un Certain Regard prize the same year.

Romanian films continued their run of glory in top European film festivals at Berlin 2013, when Calin Peter Netzer's family drama Child's Pose won the Golden Bear.

"These artistic films were appreciated as a New Wave because they do not simply accord with the Hollywood system or the European art house, but have unique angles to reflect the nation's history and examine its contemporary life," Wang said.

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