Prince Radu, spouse of Crown Custodian Margareta, hosted on Wednesday the Elisabeta Palace Evening dedicated to the Bucharest International Film Festival (BIFF) 2024, emphasizing on the occasion that this cultural event was built with such far-reaching and solid vision that it will continue for generations.
"Along the years, I have witnessed with great pride and amazement a phenomenon that started out of passion and perseverance, from the belief a few filmmakers had that Bucharest can become a cinematographic capital, fully deservant of its name as a European capital, in a field where putting up competition is so hard. Many years have passed since, more than I would have thought this annual event could live on, and the last ones, which were also the hardest, proved that it was built with such far-reaching and solid vision that it probably won't stop and will carry on," said Prince Radu, voicing hope that the festival will last for generations to come.
The Prince noted with satisfaction that BIFF has gained lots of admirers, supporters and friends, and can also count on a large number of volunteers who would rather remain anonymous.
"This year again we promise you many national and even international premieres, valuable retrospectives, guests we will all enjoy having around, we want to feel you by our side, with the same warmth that you showed us every year and especially in the last years, which were probably the most difficult," said BIFF director Dana Dimitriu-Chelba.
Culture Ministry advisor and manager of the Film and Cultural Investment Office Ana Mirea conveyed the Culture minister's message, noting the support BIFF enjoys from the Royal Family of Romania, and remarking that the Custodian of the Romanian Crown Medal awarded to the festival "is probably the most beautiful recognition of the special cultural contribution it has been making for two decades now."
In his turn, Alex Serban, president of the 'Grigore Vasiliu Birlic' Cultural Association, declared that BIFF represents "a good opportunity to support the niche culture represented by art cinema films screened at the festival, and to disseminate it in times when the emphasis is increasingly more on shallow culture like TikTok."
The 20th edition of the Bucharest International Film Festival will take place between September 19 - 28, bringing into the limelight the world of the international cinematographic industry, with films screened in a national first.
This year's edition comes with several important novelties such as the extension of the festival's duration to ten days, the introduction of the international short film competition, as well as a prize for the Romanian distributor of the BIFF winning film.
This year, the Bucharest International Film Festival was awarded the Custodian of the Romanian Crown Medal.
BIFF is organized by the Charter Foundation and the 'Grigore Vasiliu Birlic' Cultural Association, under the high patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Radu of Romania, and realized with the support of the Culture Ministry.
BIFF is the only international film festival in Bucharest to feature a documentary and historical film section, which was initially launched in 2021 to honor King Mihai's birth centennial.
Comentează