Radu Ciorniciuc's documentary "Acasa, My Home" wins Grand Prize at DOK.fest Munich

Director Radu Ciorniciuc's debut documentary film, "Acasa, My Home", which tells the story of the family that lived for 20 years in the wilderness of the Vacaresti Delta (ed.n. - a natural delta in District 4 of Bucharest), until the place received protected area status, won the Grand Prize at DOK.fest Munich, according to a release sent to AGERPRES. The 35th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival takes place online from 6 to 24 May. Radu Ciorniciuc (director and co-director of photography), Lina Vdovii (screenwriter) and Mircea Topoleanu (co-director of photography) followed and documented for four years the experiences of the Enache family: from a life in complete harmony with nature, in the Vacaresti Delta, to the challenging life in the urban jungle of the Capital, after the space that was their home became a protected natural area - Vacaresti Natural Park. The film tells the story of the challenges that the members of the Enache family faced together. At the same time, with the help of heartfelt volunteers and humanitarian organizations, the film team developed a social project designed to give members of the Enache family access to education and health, the release said. "We are extremely happy that the film is enjoying international success and the attention of festivals, especially during this difficult period both for a deeply affected field such as cinema and for all of us, personally and professionally. We hope to be able to present it in the autumn to the Romanian public, as well," said the producer Monica Lazurean-Gorgan. "Acasa, My Home" was part of a fundraising campaign in early May for poor families in Romania, affected by the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus. The Alex Fund campaign is coordinated by Leslie Hawke, the mother of the famous actor Ethan Hawke, both of whom are among the film's audience at the Sundance Film Festival. The experience of watching Radu's film at Sundance was extraordinary. The film is so special, authentic and unique - from the idea and the image to the sincere relationship with the family. It hurt me to see the changes that the protagonists had to go through, the loss of connection with nature. I was very moved and congratulated Radu on his well-deserved success, Ethan Hawke was quoted as saying. The documentary "Acasa, My Home" can soon be seen online at the Krakow International Film Festival (international competition Krakow Film Festival - online from May 31 to June 7) and at the international competition Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (online between 19 and 28 May). It is produced by Monica Lazurean-Gorgan, through the Manifest Film production house, in co-production with HBO Europe, Corso Film (Germany), Kino Company (Finland). The main partner of the film is the UiPath Foundation. The film was made with the support of the National Center of Cinematography, the Romanian Television, Creative Europe, Cinelabs (Romania), Beep Studio (the Czech Republic). Radu Ciorniciuc is a special reporter and film director. He is one of the co-founders of the House of Journalism, has written for The Guardian, Al-Jazeera, Channel 4 News, ZDF and has been awarded nationally and internationally at the Superscription Awards (2014 Superscription), Royal Television Society UK (2014), Amnesty International UK (2014) Harold Wincott Award for Business Economic and Financial Journalism (2016). AGERPRES (RO - author: Petronius Craiu, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Simona Iacob)