Financiarul

Romania is participating in the Focus ’89 Festival in Brussels , between November 9th and 15th, a week-long festival to celebrate the birth of a new Europe. Through a selection of films and accompanying debates, FOCUS 89 will explore the build-up to 1989 and its far-reaching consequences on contemporary European culture and society. Renowned personalities from all over Europe in various fields will attend the festival: political analysts, artists, architects, and of course film stars.

One of the Romanian guests in the festival is Mihail Neamtu, a PhD in theology and religious studies of the University of London, who will talk about the resistance through culture and the ‘Paltinis group’, as part of the conference ‘Doors in Walls’, to be held on November 10th.

Actor Teodor Corban will present, on November 12th, the film ‘Was It or Was It Not?’ directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, in which he plays one of the leading roles, while architect Adrian Ciocazan, head of the Igloo Media magazine, will deliver a lecture within the conference ‘Cities before and after 1989)’, on November 11th.

November 11th will be devoted to documentaries and will include the production of Alexandru Solomon ‘Cold Waves’.

The festival includes a debate dubbed ‘From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to the Fall of Wall Street: a glance to 20 years of ideological, social and economic change in Europe.’

Also presented during the festival will be the film: ‘Iron Man’, directed by Andrzej Wajd (1981, Poland), ‘Sarajevo, my love’ by Jasmila Banic (2006, Austria/ Bosnia Herzegovina/Germany/Croatia), ‘Somers Town’, directed by Somers Town (2008, UK), ‘Import/Export’ by Ulrich Seidl (2007, Austria) or ‘Lilja 4-ever’, directed by Lucas Moodysson (2002, Sweden/Denmark).

November 9th 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, that’s why FOCUS 89 starts on that day. The festival’s curator is Louis Danvers, a renowned Belgian film critic. The festival is a co-production of EUNIC Brussels and Flagey, in partnership with the Swedish EU Presidency, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Commission.

Romania’s participation in the festival is ensured by the Romanian Information Center in Brussels, the representative of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Belgium and the incumbent president of the EUNIC Brussels (European Union National Institutes for Culture.)