Emil Loteanu

Emil Loteanu (November 6, 1936 – April 18, 2003) was a renowned film director, film writer and writer (poetry and short stories) from Moldova.

Loteanu was born in Clocuşna, Hotin County, Kingdom of Romania (now Ocniţa district, Moldova Republic). After the annexation of Bessarabia by the USSR in 1944, Emil remained in Rădăuţi, together with his father. He studied at St. Sava College in Bucharest and after the death of his father in 1949 he illegally went in Moldova, but he was caught and handed over to Romanian border guards, who sent him to Bucharest, where his mother worked at the Soviet Embassy. In 1952 he asked to be repatriated and lived his early life on the streets, sleeping in warehouses and hostels. Between 1953-1954 was an actor at the Drama Theater "Pushkin" from Chişinău. He attended acting classes at the School of the Theater Academy of Art (MHAT) in Moscow (1954-1956) and directing at the Union Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in in Moscow (1956-1962). After graduating, Loteanu was hired in 1962 to Moldova-Film studio, working in the period 1973 to 1983 as director at the Mosfilm Studio in Moscow. In 1968 he joined the CPSU.

He made his directorial debut with Bolshaya gora in 1960, then his debut as a writer of feature films was in 1963, with Aşteptaţi-ne în zori (Expect us at dawn, 1963) at the Moldova Film Studio, and continued to make films there until 1975, when he joined Mosfilm. With films such as Lăutarii (English: The Fiddlers, 1971), Şatra (Russian: Tabor ukhodit v nebo English: Queen of the Gypsies, 1975), Gingaşa şi tandra mea fiară (Russian: Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver, English: A Hunting Accident, 1977), and Anna Pavlova (1983) Loteanu began to attract international attention. For his films, he received prizes at film festivals in San Sebastian, Naples, Milan, Belgrade, Minsk, Prague, Paris.

Between 1987-1992 Loteanu was president of the 'Filmmakers Union of Moldova'. He was instrumental in the formation of two promotions for film directors in the 'Upper School of Directing'. He founded the 'Phoenix-M Association of Experimental Creation', the theater and film magazine 'Magic Lantern', and was author of the television show 'Searching for a Star'. Emil Loteanu taught at the 'Art Institute of Chişinău'; among the young actors trained by Emil Loteanu were Svetlana Toma, Grigore Grigoriu, and many other.

He received the titles of 'Honored Master of Art in Moldova' (1969), 'People's Artist of Russian Federation' (1980), 'Honorary member of the International Academy of Film Nike'. He also received the 'State Prize' and the 'Order of the Republic'. In 2001, received the 'Award for Excellence in Art Directing', awarded at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.

Palme d'Or / Cristian Mungiu

Cristian Mungiu (born April 27, 1968, Iaşi), Romanian director, writer, producer.


Cristian Mungiu is the brother of political analyst Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. After studying English literature at the University of Iaşi, he worked for a few years as a teacher and as a journalist. After that, he enrolled at the University of Film in Bucharest to study film directing.


After graduating in 1998, Mungiu made several short films. In 2002, he debuted with his first feature film, Occident. Occident enjoyed critical success, winning prizes in several film festivals and being featured in Director’s Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. In 2007 Mungiu wrote and directed his second feature, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The film was received enthusiastically, attracting critical praise and being selected in the official competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, where it eventually won the coveted Palme d'Or for feature film, marking the first time that prize was awarded to a Romanian filmmaker. The film won also the Cinema Prize of the French National Education System and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes, the Best Director and Best Film awards at the 2007 European Film Awards, and other awards at several important film festivals.

Palme d'Or / Corneliu Porumboiu

Corneliu Porumboiu (born September 14, 1975, Vaslui), Romanian film director and screenwriter. He is the son of well-known football referee and businessman Adrian Porumboiu.


Corneliu Porumboiu won in 2004 second place in the Cinefondation section of Cannes Film Festival with short film Traveling to the city (Romanian: Călătorie la oraş). His 2006 feature 12:08 East of Bucharest (Romanian: A fost sau n-a fost?) has won the Camera d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2009, Porumboiu won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival with his drama film Police, Adjective (Romanian: Poliţist, Adjectiv); this film won also the Transilvania Trophy at Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF).

Palme d'Or / Cristi Puiu

Cristi Puiu (born April 3, 1967), Romanian film director and screenwriter.


Puiu's first interest in art was painting and in 1992, he was admitted as a student at the Painting Department of École Superieure d'Arts Visuels in Geneva. After the first year he switched to film studies at the same school and graduated in 1996. After returning to Romania, Cristi Puiu started directing and writing his first films, generally enjoying critical success.

Cristi Puiu's debut as a director was in 2001 with the low budget road movie Stuff and Dough (Marfa şi Banii). The film received several awards in international film festivals and competed in the Quinzaines des Realisateurs section of the Cannes Film Festival. He continued with a short film, Cigarettes and Coffee (Un cartuş de Kent şi un pachet de cafea) (2004), which was awarded the Golden Bear and the UIP Prize for best short film at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival.


His second film, The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu (Moartea domnului Lăzărescu) (2005), was a critical success, being awarded with Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. Year 2006 brought 47 prizes for his film, and a lot of nominees in American Critics Top 10 and in France also for magazines as Telerama and Les Inrockuptibles. (from Wikipedia)

Palme d'Or / Cătălin Mitulescu

Cătălin Mitulescu (born January 13, 1972, Voluntari), Romanian director, writer, and producer.


After graduating from the Faculty of Geology at the University of Bucharest, he worked in Italy, Austria and Poland. Returned in Romania, he graduated from the Academy of Theater and Cinematography in Bucharest, after which he directed videos and commercials. In 1996, he was assistant director of Dan Piţa, and in 1998 he founded Left Production film house.


In 2004, Mitulescu wins Palme d'Or for short film at Cannes Film Festival, with Traffic. His feature-length film debut, The Way I Spent the End of the World (2006), it brings new awards (Sundance Film Festival, Valladolid International Film Festival), a proposal from Romania to Oscar; the main actress, Dorotheea Petre, won the prize for Best Female Interpretation at Cannes.

Liviu Ciulei

Liviu Ciulei (born July 7, 1923) is a Romanian theater and film director, as well as actor, architect, educator, costume and set designer. During a career spanning over 50 years, he has had a seminal influence on Romanian cinema and theater. Known for his daring theatrical interpretations, he has distinctively marked the area of performing arts inside his country and abroad. He has been described by Newsweek as "one of the boldest and most challenging figures on the international scene".


Born in Bucharest (his father's name was written Liviu Ciulley), Ciulei studied architecture and theater at the Royal Conservatory of Music and Theatre. He made his theater debut in 1946, as Puck in an Odeon Theatre production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Soon afterwards, he joined the theater company of Teatrul Municipal din Bucureşti, later renamed Teatrul Bulandra, where he directed his first stage production in 1957 — Rainmaker by Richard Nash.

In 1961, Ciulei gained an overall recognition for his version of Shakespeare's As You Like It. He was the recipient of the Directors' Award at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival for The Forest of the Hanged, the film version of the Liviu Rebreanu's eponymous novel (where he also starred in the role of Klapka).


Ciulei was the artistic director of Teatrul Bulandra for more than 10 years. After that, he has worked in several European countries, as well as in the United States — notably at The Arena Stage in Washington D.C. where he directed "Leonce and Lena" —, Canada and Australia. Between 1980 and 1985, Ciulei was the artistic director of Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Afterwards, from 1986, he taught at Columbia University and at New York University.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, back in his native Romania, Ciulei has directed a series of stage productions that have been both publicly and critically acclaimed. He was named Honorary Director of the theater he has always loved the most, Bulandra, as a token of appreciation and respect for his entire career. Besides being the costume and set designer of the majority of his own productions, Ciulei, as an architect, contributed decisively to the rebuilding of the auditorium of Bulandra Theatre, as well as to important architectural work of other theater buildings. In 1996, UNITER (Uniunea Teatrală din România) awarded its annual prize to Ciulei, in recognition of his overall work.