Alexander Nanau’s
\ndocumentary film Collective is on the short list for an Oscar in both the documentary
\nfeature and the international feature film categories. This is the first
\ntime that a Romanian production is shortlisted in two categories at the American
\nAcademy Awards. The film follows the investigation of a group of journalists
\ninto the corruption of the Romanian healthcare sector in the wake of a fire
\nthat broke out on 30th October 2015 at the Bucharest nightclub Colectiv
\nand which killed more than 60 people. The film has already received two awards.
\nLast year, it was named best documentary at the European Film Awards and this
\nyear it won the best documentary award from the London Critics’ Circle Film
\nAwards. The Oscar nominations will be announced on 15th March and
\nthe award ceremony will be held on 25th April. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Born in Romania and living
\nin Germany, the film’s director Alexander Nanau says the nomination of his
\nfilm, which is in fact a Romania-Luxembourg coproduction, is the work of a team
\nfrom four continents. In a statement to Agerpress news agency, he emphasised
\nthat by its inclusion on the Oscars shortlist, the story in the film gets to be
\npassed on. It’s a story about the state, about incompetent authorities who
\ntrample on people’s lives through deception and manipulation and it’s very important
\nto be seen by as many people as possible and maybe it will help others realise when
\nthey are being manipulated and their lives are being placed in danger by the authorities,
\nNanau also said. He explained that some themes are universally valid, all over
\nthe word, one of which being the importance of having an independent press and
\nthe fact that without an independent press we basically have no access to the
\ntruth, because those in power will always be tempted to create a parallel
\nreality and hide their intentions and abuse their power. Alexander Nanau was
\nalso quoted as saying that Romanian society has changed a lot since the fire
\nat Colectiv in 2015. The wish for change is more and more visible, he said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Tragedies caused by the
\ncynicism and moral corruption of hospital managers and the politicians who
\nprotect them, fires with multiple victims keep reoccurring in Romania. It was
\nonly a couple of weeks ago, that a fire broke out at a ward containing many patients
\nat Matei Bal\u015f Institute in Bucharest, Romania’s
\nbiggest infectious diseases hospital and one of its most modern and best
\nequipped. Another similar tragedy took place last November at the emergency
\nhospital in Piatra Neam\u0163, in the north-east. Alexander Nanau believes this is
\nthe sad record of the incompetence and corruption of people who have been
\nrunning state institutions and hospitals for dozens of years, the result being
\nthat people are dying. (CM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a first for Romanian cinema, a local film was shortlisted in two categories for the Oscars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":86915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[35916,36032,34418],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-88060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-collective","tag-nanau","tag-oscars"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n