Cristian Mungiu

Parrain de la Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut Français 2018

My first film was screened in Cannes 15 years ago. The day I got the news I was jumping of joy. We have ridden a roller-coaster to get there. And, however cheesy it seems, it was a dream come true. We were very young - and we loved everything: the palm-trees on the street, the buzz, the people dressed in black in the evening, even the hostel where we were sleeping – some 50 kilometers away from Cannes – six in a room.
I took a bath in the sea to watch Cannes from a distance. I was hoping to get back to the festival at least once in my life. I promised myself I will take a bath in the sea every time I get back, just to remember how lucky I am. And I was very, very lucky. I took a lot of bathes in these last 15 years.
Now, I feel I should give back whatever I can, whenever it’s possible. I am very glad to be part of the La Fabrique project, as the right push in your early years as a filmmaker can change your future trajectory. I hope that my tutoring will help as many young filmmakers to have as many bathes as possible in the sea in the future years. And that I will also help them have as many spectators as possible. Since we need to remember that Cannes offers the greatest start possible for a filmmaker, but the final verdict is given by spectators
 
BIOGRAPHY
 
Cristian Mungiu, the leader of the new wave of Romanian cinema, revealed his talent in the mid 2000s, when he won the Palme d'Or in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. As one of the greatest filmmakers in the world today, he earned this accolade. His other feature films, Occident (2002), Beyond the Hills (2012) and Graduation (2016), are all evidence of this. However, Mungiu is not solely focused on his own work: he plays a key role in the Romanian film industry – as a producer, as the manager of the Cannes Film Festival in Bucharest (which he founded) and as the overseer of the collective film Tales from the Golden Age (2009). 
 
He has helped to discover and support young directors, setting up organizations to produce and broadcast films and fostering dialogue between his country and major international filmmakers. Cristian Mungiu is an artist and a strategist, demanding but open to new trends. As such, he is the perfect choice for the patron of the tenth edition of the Fabrique Cinéma de l’Institut français. 
 
Jean-Michel Frodon