It was announced yesterday that the film "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days" (4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile) won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Synopsis: The film follows the story of Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) and Găbiţă (Laura Vasiliu) - two university friends in a small town in Romania. The film is set in 1987, one of the last years of the Ceauşescu regime. When Găbiţă falls pregnant, the two girls arrange a meeting with Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) in a cheap hotel, where he is to perform an illegal abortion.

A feeling of patriotism and pride has admittedly come over me, even though I havent seen the film yet. It is high time that the arts, music, and culture of Romania shine again, as the country has seen a history of great artists, musicians, producers, etc, though they havent always been able to express their ideas and/or they havent received the credit that they deserved. I am sure that this is just the beginning of a new era, not only for Romanian cinema but for a renewed sense of what it means to be Romanian - particularly as another Romanian film, Cristian Nemescu's "California Dreamin'", won the Un Certain Regard Prix, also at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Sadly, Cristian was not there to enjoy the fruits of his labour as he died late last year in a car accident in Bucharest - when a British citizen decided to drive 60km (at least) over the speed limit and crash into the taxi that Cristian was in.

Another film that I would recommend is "Cover Boy: L'Ultima Revoluzione" - I watched it last weekend. It depicts the journey of a young Romanian man - from the time of the revolution (and how it affected him) to his making it in today's world (as he goes to Italy to seek a better opportunity). I thought it was indicative of how the revolution was not what it was cut out to be. Many promises of a better life have still not been realised as many now struggle to earn a living - something that was (somehow) guaranteed under the old regime. And like many Romanians that leave the country, the man's only dream is to return to the homeland (a little more wealthy than he left) - having realised that things can be just as bad on the outside, and sometimes, they are even better on the inside.