Cristian Mungiu drew attention, on Monday, in a cinema closed to the public, to the chronic underfunding of culture in Romania and the lack of a long-term strategy, and talked about the promotional tour of the film “Fjord”, which is in the running for the Oscar.
The well-known director talks about “improvisations at the exploitation and distribution level” and about the fact that “the life of the film should start from the moment it is ready”, but in reality “when the movie ends, the money ends”according to News.ro.
According to the director, the lack of distribution budgets means that Romanian films have little impact:
“There is no money either in the production budget of the film or after, to promote this film. Some films are produced, but they have minimal impact, because there are no exploitation sites, there are no distribution budgets.”
Mungiu criticizes systemic underfunding: “The budget of the Ministry of Culture is 0.0 something”
The director points out that Romania has “the only budget of a Ministry of Culture in Europe, which does not start with a 0but with two 0’s“.
The director gives the example of Timisoara, where the reopening of cinemas was possible thanks to political will: “When there is a will, it is possible“.
Cristian Mungiu insists on investing in education and training the critical spirit: “Let’s not necessarily judge investments in terms of kilometers of highways. It’s good to invest in people as well“.
Promotion of the film “Fjord” for the Oscars
The director is hoping to get private support for the campaign for the film “Fjord”, automatically selected in the Oscar race thanks to a new rule of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The director quotes his favorite line from a film by Corneliu Porumboiu, “awe made a revolution as well as we could”explaining that the Ministry of Culture “he did what he couldt”, but resources are limited.
Cristian Mungiu specifies that a real Oscar campaign requires a budget of “between 5 and 10 million euros”an amount impossible to cover from Romanian funds.
However, the film has “the strongest distributor for this kind of film” and is supported by actors who can participate in promotion.
“Fjord is, in the end, a predominantly Romanian film”
The director explains that the film represents Romania at the Oscars, not Norway:
“The nationality of the film is not related to the place where the most money came from, but to the nationality of the screenwriter and director”.
International promotion tour: August 2026 – March 2027
Cristian Mungiu announces a global tour to present the film, which he also considers a form of promotion of Romania.
“Most good news about Romania comes from culture and cinema. (…) This promotion from person to person, based on events, is much more effective”emphasizes the director.
The director hopes that the film will provoke reflection:
“I want those who see the film to question a little his firm convictionsu”, in a society “extremely polarized”.
“Fjord” will have a one-off screening on June 13, from 7:00 p.m., in 90 cinemas across the country.
