AMR 3 Days

Monday, 19 November 2012. Three days left to the start of the Festival, and we are checking the final details on the guest lists, rehearsing the events, making phone calls, sending e-mails... And deciding on the menu for the private Festival Reception (yum yum).

Today, Ramona Mitrica, the Festival Director, and myself made a journey to Renoir for a meeting with our Curzon liaison, Laura Kloss (big thanks to Laura for all her work). We also marked out all the places which will be used by the Festival: the organisers’ table, the VIP area, the press area, the location of the Festival banner...

It was also extremely nice to take another look (this time in daylight) at the canopy of the Renoir cinema. It feels pretty satisfying to see the words ROMANIAN FILM FESTIVAL written in very large letters on a cinema front.

Ramona Mitrica, Festival Director: "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Romanian Film Festival at Renoir Cinema!"

We also test-screened the 35mm copy of Principles of Life – such a great movie, to watch and re-watch. It will be screened on Friday 23 November, at 6pm. Actress Rodica Lazar, a superlative companion to Vlad Ivanov’s main character Emilian Velicanu, will be with us for the Q&A after the film.

Rodica Lazar and Vlad Ivanov in Principles of Life

Otherwise, I can say we are all looking forward to the beginning of the Festival. Our special guests from Romania will start arriving very soon, and we’ll kick off yet another showcase of the best Romanian films around.

In the end, I'd like to assure you that I didn’t mention the Festival Reception for nothing.

Yes, it is a private and EXCLUSIVE event. But we do love you, our audience, very much. That’s why we would like to give you the chance to come and rub shoulders with the Romanian movie stars we invited to London this year.

Get your tickets for Principles of Life NOW and you can win an invitation to the exclusive Festival Reception! Tickets are available from http://www.curzoncinemas.com/events/details/1410/romanian-film-festival-principles-of-life-qa

Send proof of payment to press@rofilmfest.com before 6pm on WEDNESDAY 21 November, and you will be entered in a special raffle. The winner will be notified in writing soon afterwards. Good luck!

Here's another treat for you from the Romanian rock band Compact - watch out in Principles of Life for an unleashed Vlad Ivanov dancing in the kitchen to this tune (dressed only in a towel). Director Constantin Popescu said in an interview this was the only scene in the film which was improvised (full interview here).

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And if you are wondering what the post title means, here's a brief explanation:

AMR 3 Days - acronym meaning “still 3 days left”. AMR stands for au mai rămas – “still left”. Soldiers and their relatives marked the time left on calendars with AMR followed by the number of days.