“The first edition of Movie Nights took place in 2022,” says Valeria Suruceanu, director of the museum. – The screening of documentaries traditionally takes place in the first week of December, presenting tapes, most of which were created in the current year. They cover a wide range of topics, such as social problems, history, art, cultural features. The screening is followed by lively discussions with the authors”.
The project is implemented within the framework of the “European Cinema Night”, when European cultural institutions organize free film screenings. This initiative is linked to the “Creative Europe” cultural support program. We would like to remind that Moldova will also join the program on 1 January next year. The program has two directions of supporting projects: culture and media. And in the field of media, our documentary filmmakers have great chances to receive funding.
“The cooperation with TeleFilm Chisinau is very important for the Museum of History of Chisinau,” emphasized Valeria Suruceanu. – Thanks to such initiatives our museum becomes a platform for dialog, discussions, they contribute to the preservation of the memory of artistic and cultural processes. Also, the museum has an idea of cooperation with “TeleFilm Chisinau” in terms of archival materials, which store a huge number of documents related, among others, to famous personalities who had a significant impact on the development of the Moldovan capital. It is important that our visitors learn about them”.
The motto of this year’s film festival is “People of Chisinau”. Two films about artists were presented: on December 2, “Acasă în lume” by Leonid Melnik about Teodor Buzu, who has been living in the Czech Republic for a long time, and on December 5 – “Metamorphoses” made by Lucia Teut, dedicated to the memory of Andrei Sirbu.
And on December 3, the audience saw a series of short films: “Only a Copy, Please” by Maria Ciobanu, “Birds Don’t Fly Far” by Lucia Teut, “Masters of the Hive” by Eugen Popovic and “The Pause That Doesn’t Exist” by Aaron Schlenther.
“The idea to make a movie about Theodore Buzu appeared three years ago, when we were in the Czech Republic working on the project “My Europe” – says Leonid Melnik, producer and deputy director of the Department “TeleFilm Chisinau”. – In it, each European country was represented by a Moldovan citizen who has lived abroad for many years. Teodor Buzu, talking about the Czech Republic, constantly recalled his native village, Moldova. The film about the Czech Republic did not contain much material, and then we decided to make a separate movie about the artist, his work and thoughts about his homeland”.
The title of the movie was given to his latest album “Acasă în lume” (“At Home in the World”). It speaks about Teodor Buzu in the best possible way: on the one hand, he is very attached to his homeland, feels himself a Moldovan, and on the other hand, he feels himself a man of the world.
Making a documentary costs from 200,000 lei and more. “And it is very difficult to shoot now, because there is a big problem with sources of financing,” comments the producer. – After all, this is not a commercial movie, it does not pay for itself. And documentaries – not for all viewers, in theaters screening lasts no more than two days. But we find a way out of the situation, we do joint projects with the US Embassy in Moldova, with the Council of Europe.
