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There is no shortage of Romanian cinema at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. And that’s the way it should be!

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Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu was warmly received last night at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015, with his most recent movie The Treasure.

He was here in Toronto before, but the presenter had some great words about Corneliu.

This was the second of three projections for THE TREASURE at TIFF 2015, on the evening of Thursday 17 September 2015.

The room was packed.

Watch below:

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I learned a valuable lesson about movies during my formative years, while sinking deep into productions by the likes of Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni or Andrei Tarkovski. A good movie provides answers to complex situations, while a great movie is a riddle leaving you –  often frustratingly, but always spiritually rewarding – with questions that you carry outside of the theatre.

One Floor Below – which had its North American premiere at TIFF on Saturday 12 September 2015 (a second screening is on Monday 14 Sep at 8:45 AM at the AGO), also bringing Romanian director Radu Muntean for the first time in Toronto – is of the latter type.

Here is what happened last night.

Radu Muntean (right) at the North American premiere of ONE FLOOR BELOW in Toronto, 12 September 2015
Radu Muntean (right) at the North American premiere of ONE FLOOR BELOW in Toronto, 12 September 2015

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TIFF – the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival – lights up this beautiful city every September.

There is a healthy dose of cool Romanian cinema for us to sample this year, including new productions from established directors such as Corneliu Porumboiu (Police, Adjective) and Radu Muntean (The paper will be blue).

RomanianMoviesAt TIFFRead more…

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The official poster of the film. Source: Roger Waters wall on Facebok.
The official poster of the film. Source: Roger Waters wall on Facebook.

I went to see Roger Waters’ world premiere of “The Wall 2014” last night at the beautiful Elgin Theatre on Yonge Street in Toronto, not far from where the guy in front of me bought this original vinyl in 1979:

I asked the lady who got this vinyl signed "How did you get close to Roger before the movie?" "Oh, I am a warrior of the backstages. In this case I flashed a boob and got in!"
I asked the 40-something lady who got Waters’ autograph (a friend of the vinyl’s owner): “How did you get close to Roger before the movie?” “Oh, sweetie, I am a backstage warrior. I flashed a boob and got in!”

Read below a few impressions and listen to the whole Q&A session with Roger Waters in Toronto, Saturday 06 September 2014:

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TEXT: a free audio tour of the Luminato 2009 festival – a few words about the events I would like to attend, and about their location.

MUSIC: Bill Frisell – Slow Dance (from album The Best of Bill Frisell, Volume 1: Folk Songs; released 2009; label Nonesuch – thank you)

RUNNING TIME: 13’40”

Fun at the LUMINATO festival in Toronto - photo by Stephanie Berger
Fun @ LUMINATO fest in Toronto - photo by Stephanie Berger

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