Today is the first screening of the Anonimul International Film Festival, one of the most important film festivals in Romania and, certainly, one of the most beautiful, due to its location: at the end of the Danube Delta, in Sfantu Gheorghe, where the river flows into the Black Sea. The anniversary edition – the twentieth – is marked by the first special partnership with the first biodynamic winery in Romania, Domeniul Bogdan.
Anonimul – an unique festival in Romania
The Anonimul Festival is definitely unique in the landscape of international film competitions – far from the red carpet, without bow ties and designer dresses, without the glamour that usually accompanies the movie stars. But a festival full of life, passion and respect for nature. In addition, with most of the spectators staying in the campsite and with free access to the outdoor projections and with zero-cost tickets for indoors (yes, still free, but they must be booked a day in advance, on eventbook.ro), it is a festival that requires almost no financial effort at all. So, from today until Sunday, you are invited to a recital of top films, with many premieres, with special guests, siding with an enthusiastic cinephile audience – obviously, all in the company of a glass of organic wine from Domeniul Bogdan.
4000 people are expected at the Anonimul festival
"In the first year, we had between 600 and 700 people, and we thought it was incredible. It seemed to us that it is beginner’s luck and that things cannot continue like this. (…) we found a way to unite the camping area of the festival with the cinema area and thus, we managed to gather 1000 people per evening. I don’t remember when I reached 3000 or 4000 people every night. Now, the challenge is to attract, through the way we build the program by day, a balanced number of people during the first days, in the middle and towards the end, because should more people come… there is no more space. So Anonimul grew from 600 people in a week to 4000 people per night, and we have nowhere to grow more, maybe only 20% at most". recently said Miruna Berescu, the festival director, in an interview for Republica.ro.
Special guest at the Anonimul festival: Naomi Kawase
For moviegoers, the name of the director of Japanese origin is a true landmark, ever since her brilliant debut, which made her the youngest filmmaker to win the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Festival – for Suzaku (1997), when she was just 27 years old. Ten years later, in 2007, the same Naomi Kawase won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, the French Riviera becoming, in time, the place where her films were released – no less than eight of her films had their global premiere there.
In 2018, Kawase received from the International Olympic Committee the proposal to film the Olympic Games in Tokyo, scheduled for 2020, but postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From more than 5,000 hours of footage, the director signs "Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Side A & Side B", two documentaries of 120 minutes each.
The Official Film of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Part A had its world premiere last year at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Cannes Classics section, and will be premiered in Romania at Anonimul, along with several of his other films – Sweet Bean, Still the Water or True Mothers. Also, Naomi Kawase will give a masterclass on Friday, August 18, and on Saturday evening, at the closing gala of the festival, she will receive the Anonimul trophy for her contribution to the beauty of universal cinema.
The Anonimul Festival: not only film, but also music
Tuesday, August 15, will be the day dedicated to the Romanian film and will include the national premiere of the newest film directed by Radu Jude – "Don’t expect too much from the end of the world", which can be seen at ANONIMUL immediately after the screening from the selection of in Locarno.
This year’s edition of the Anonimul festival includes in the lineup a number of nine other Romanian feature films, included in the Romanian OFF Section. Among them, viewers will be able to see, before the release in cinemas: "Mammalia" directed by Sebastian Mihailescu, "Tigru" directed by Andrei Tanase, the documentary films: "Arsenie. The afterlife" by Alexandru Solomon, "Why is my name Nora, when my sky is clear" by Carla Maria Teaha or "Between revolutions" by Vlad Petri and the anthropological study of the small community of Sfantu Gheorghe signed by Claudiu Mitcu – "All the rivers pour into the sea and the sea never fills up".
The festival program also includes three competition sections: two short film competitions (Romanian and international) and a feature film competition that brings together the newest films of some authors who have been present in the ANONIMUL selection over the years. All of this will be shown both in the cinema set up in the campsite and in the cinema halls in Green Village.
Two of the evenings of the festival will also include music – Mr. Goe will have a live concert in the campsite on Wednesday, August 16, from 9:30 p.m. and also in the campsite, on Saturday evening, after the closing gala, you will have the opportunity to listen to the always innovative Suie Paparude. The full program of the festival is available here: https://www.festival-anonimul.ro/program-2023/.
About Domeniul Bogdan
The special partner of the Anonimul Festival (and of local traditional fish dishes!), Domeniul Bogdan, received the certification of organic producer from Austria Bio Garantie in 2016, for the 150 hectares of vineyards it cultivates, then the I Vini Biodinamici and Demeter certifications followed.
The one to sign the first wines was the late Philippe Cambie, a legend of the wine world, about whom Robert Parker said that if a team of the best oenologists in the world were to be made, Cambie should be called as a coach. Philippe Cambie is among the first great consultants who tried not to leave their mark on the taste and flavours of the wine, but on its soul. Moreover, the vineyard at Domeniul Bogdan is managed by an international warrant of the "Biodynamic Wines" certification system, Leonello Anello – you can watch an exclusive interview for Wines of Romania here.
Recently, the position of winemaking consultant was taken over by the company of Stephane Derenoncourt, a self-taught oenologist whose story does not resemble the standard stories, with the experience of generations passed from father to son and the decades spent in the winery. Stephane Derenoncourt is among the few who started from scratch and learned on the go – the story of his life (in the abridged version, of course) can be read here: https://www.winesofromania.com/domeniul-bogdan-partener-wines-of-romania/.
Photo sources:
- Domaine Bogdan
- The Anonimul Festival
