HotNews.ro got in touch with the Arad Municipal Culture Center (CMCA) and the Arad County Library, the institutions where the film “Arsenie. Viața de Apoi”, and asked for an explanation regarding the cancellation of the event, as director Alexandru Solomon announced on Facebook yesterday.
“Arseny. The afterlife”, a film by Alexandru SolomonPhoto: arsenie.viatadeapoi.ro
Two cultural institutions in Arad refused, in turn, the screening of the documentary film about Arsenie Boca, directed by Alexandru Solomon. The reasons would have been related to threats from the public.
The film was to be screened at Cinema Arta, which is subordinate to the Municipal Cultural Center of Arad, which in turn is subordinate to the City Hall. The refusal came 48 hours before the event, the director of the center saying that there were some threats. “If you dare to project the film, we will come there and it will be a circus, we will make a scandal”, that’s how the message sounded that scared the representatives of the Cultural Center, played by Alexandru Solomon in a post made on his Facebook page.
The citizenit association later contacted the Arad County Library to broadcast the film there. Even though they agreed in the first phase, they came back and said that the event cannot take place.
We wanted to see what are the threats that could justify refusing to screen a documentary film, whether the authorities have been contacted about these threats, and how much should institutions give in to outside pressure? I did not receive answers to these questions, but I received information from the Arad Municipal Culture Center and a brief explanation from the library representatives regarding the cancellation of the event.
“Regarding concerted disinformation…”
CMCA begins the information by making some clarifications “regarding the concerted disinformation that appeared in the online press, in social media and among public opinion”, but continues by confirming what the director Alexandru Solomon posted on the Facebook page.
Thus, the institution says that “when the promotion of the screening began, negative reactions regarding the film began to appear, some more discreet, others more vehement, from the people of Arad”. Also, the decision was made based on the “echoes arising from the screening of the film in other cities in the country”. Until now, Arad is the only city that refused the screening of the film “Arsenie. Afterlife”.
CMCA representatives say they have contacted the citizenit Association and told them they want to postpone the event due to the threats.
According to the information provided by the institution, the citizenit Association “categorically refused to postpone the event”. They added that “it is not unimportant to bring to the public’s attention the fact that one of the important members of the citizenit Arad Association is the employee of the director Alexandru Solomon, who certainly could have a decisive influence on the postponement agreement”.
Oana Furdea, a founding member of citizenit, and the one the representatives of the Center talk about in the information, says that the decision was taken by all those involved in the team.
“I collaborate with One World Romania, but I don’t see how these things are excluded. I am not in charge of the distribution of the film “Arsenie. Afterlife,” that’s something the director does on his own. Indeed, I collaborate with the One World Romania association, but it is not because of the fact that we work together that we decided to cancel the screening. It was a collective decision of all the members of the association, due to the fact that things were already planned and because we had already announced the screening in front of the public”, answers Furdea.
One World Romania was the first documentary film festival in Bucharest, which was brought to Romania at the initiative of the Czech Center. Over time, the selection of films and the organization of the festival became autonomous, so the members of the festival team established the One World Romania Association, as can be seen from the association’s website. Alexandru Solomon is part of the Association’s Steering Committee.
Citizenit members took into account the costs, but also the need to broadcast a documentary for the citizens of Arad.
“They told us it’s not a good time to postpone the screening. Due to the fact that we had discussed the coming of Alecu Solomon to Arad, we considered it not appropriate to postpone the screening, because there were also some travel costs involved, from the distributor’s side”, continued Furdea.
In the information provided by CMCA, they mentioned that there was no written agreement between them and citizenit. However, there was a verbal agreement. This is not the first time that citizenit works with CMCA. “We generally have a good working relationship with CMCA. In this case, they didn’t want to collaborate with us, but they supported several projects over time”, adds Oana Furdea.
Vernissage yes, film yes
After the refusal from the Arad Municipal Culture Center, the people from citizenit got in touch with the County Library. “We, being private organizers, looked for another space. We headed to the library where, again, we were offered an agreement in principle. They also contacted us from the library and told us that they no longer want it,” explains Oana Furdea.
When we asked the library why it canceled the screening of the film, we were told that they had scheduled a screening on the same day.
“Exactly, yesterday, we also had another event. It was rushed by me as manager and yesterday we had a painting opening”, says Gabriela Ungureanu, representative of the Arad County Library.
Ungureanu says that they have not received any threats either from unknown persons or from her superiors, who did not know about her decision. Oana Furdea says that the representatives of the library told them, initially, that there would be no problem for the events to take place at the same time, because they did not take place in the same room.
Indeed, the entrance to the space intended for the opening would have been made through the courtyard where the projection took place.
Finally, the screening took place on the terrace of the Flex club, in Arad, where discussions took place at the end of the film screening. No incident occurred. Oana Furdea says that they achieved their goal, because they want to bring as many cultural events as possible to the Arada public, so that’s what they did.
