Fifteenth issue of Cronograf International Documentary Film Festival held in Moldova

Chisinau, 22 May /MOLDPRES/ - The 15th issue of the Cronograf International Documentary Film Festival, held on 22-28 May, will be inaugurated at the Odeon Culture Centre today starting from 19:00. 

At a news conference, the festival’s director, Virgiliu Margineanu, said that the evening would culminate with the screening of the film which this year took the Oscar prize for the best documentary – Free Solo. The film shows the profile of alpinist Alex Honnold during his mission to escalate a slope of the El Capitan rock in June 2017.   

According to Virgiliu Margineanu, 49 documentaries will participate in the competition in five sections: 14 documentaries at the Principal Section/Full-Length  Films and six documentaries at the Principal Section/Short-reel Films; nine films at the CadRO Section and nine films from Moldova at the Local Productions Section. Seven films will compete at the section One Like for a Documentary and at the Section Keeping an Eye on Moldova – four documentaries about Moldova and its fellow countrymen, seen by cinema men from abroad. The films have been selected from a record number of 900 registrations from 51 countries.   

In the context, film director, member of the pre-selection jury Vlad Druc said that he had been guided by two principles in choosing the films for the competition: the artistic quality of productions and their impact on the society, audience. “I am sorry that all the good films failed to find room at this festival. I like the quality of this festival and I want us to preserve it in continuation at a high level,” Vlad Druc stressed.  

For her part, the festival’s artistic director, Leontina Vatamanu, said that the current issue of Cronograf would host more first performances of native documentaries, made in the last two years: Acasa la Japca (At Home in Japca) by Olga Pascaru, Goodbye, Olegovici... by Eugeniu Popovici, Pași pe graniță (Steps on Border) by Alecu Deleu,  Siberia. Novosibirsk. Tomsk, by Violeta Gorgos, as well as a fiction full-length film, Fântânile, (The Wells), directed by Radu Zaporojan. The premieres will be screened at the Odeon movie cinema.      

According to Conform Leontina Vatamanu, another important event of this issue is Cronograf&Art Fusion, due to take on the pedestrian street Eugen Doga from Chisinau. During four days – 23-26 May, the event is to host exhibitions of photos, galleries of plein-air paintings, street theatre performances and craftsmanship workshops. This room of manifestation and artistic freedom provides cultural leisure to local public, as well the guests of the Moldovan capital. Starting from 19:00 in evenings, Cronograf&Art Fusion invites people fond of music and film to an original open-air show with live recitals by rock bands from Moldova and screenings of documentary films about music, dance and photographic art,” Leontina Vatamanu added.    

The best documentary will be awarded a trophy made by sculptor Valentin Vartosu and a prize worth 2,500 euros. The festival’s budget is of one million lei.  

Cronograf is an independent festival from Moldova, which asserted itself on the map of festivals of documentary films from the European space. It has been organized starting from 2001 by the OWH Studio production house, in partnership with the Education, Culture and Research Ministry, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and other institutions.