AGERPRES video documentary "The Greater Union - Romania at 100" premieres in Chisinau

The "Greater Union - Romania at 100" video documentary produced by the AGERPRES Romanian National News Agency, was premiered in Moldova at the Odeon Cultural Centre in Chisinau on Wednesday.

The event was organised by AGERPRES jointly with the Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Moldova and the "Mihai Eminescu" Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau. Attending were Romanian Ambassador in Moldova Daniel Ionita, former Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti, MOLDPRES news agency Director Vlad Darie, members of the diplomatic corps.

"The Greater Union Centennial is an extremely important event. We are trying to look back at the past, but in order to figure out what direction we want to go in the future. It's the Centennial movie," AGERPRES Director General Alexandru Giboi told the opening of the event.

Ambassador Daniel Ionita said that the documentary is a "correct, natural and serious" x-ray of past events.

"This is an important event and I am glad we have a serious partner with us, AGERPRES, who has chosen Chisinau for the premiere of a documentary film, which, I am convinced, brings added value to the events that has marked us everyone in 1918, and not only then, but since then. I believe that this documentary, along with other actions that will surely be organised by the Embassy of Romania in Chisinau, by other embassies in Chisinau of the states that mark their birthday centennials will be able to provide important pages of history (...) that must be known, must be appreciated," he said.

Director General of Moldova's State Archives Ion Varta highlighted the composition of the film, which he called "absolutely fabulous."

"Firstly it invites us to exaltation through the first part of this absolutely fabulous film which is reproduced through the historic document, through these wonderful interventions of our historians, especially of those from Transylvania, and then it takes us to become part of this tragic moment which the Romanians from the East of the Prut, the ones in Basarabia and Bucovina, the Herta land have especially went through and the third part is a very optimistic one, that inspires us this confidence in a future that we all want," he mentioned.

State News Agency MOLDPRES Director General Vlad Darie congratulated the AGERPRES Romanian National News Agency team for a "courageous journalistic demarche" and "an exceptional film, with a very strong impact for every Romanian."

Marilena Stanescu, one of the makers of this documentary, talked about the history and empathy lesson which the AGERPRES documentary offers.

"When the material was released in Bucharest, a very important idea was born there: the fact that it should be taken to schools because it teaches a different lesson of history and, I would briefly add that, from our point of view, it is not just a lesson of history, it is a lesson of empathy, with these people who have opened their souls to us, to all, up to the core, where it hurts the most or where the greatest joy lives," she pointed out.

Within the event, also mounted was the photography exhibition called "Romania: Evolution," containing pictures of AGERPRES archive and that of Associated Press, but also the best photographs taken by photo reporters of the Romanian National News Agency. Furthermore, the album called "Romania: Evolution" - a special edition for the Greater Union Centennial was also showcased, depicting 100 photographs of Romania, classified in three chapters: Archive, Revolution, Evolution.

The documentary "The Greater Union - Romania at 100 Years" is made by Mihut Nastasache, Marilena Stanescu and Sergiu Olteanu, cinematography by Alfred Schupler, Sergiu Olteanu and Andrei Carlan. The reporting was done by Marilena Stanescu, Mihut Nastasache and Camelia Moise; design, soundtrack and editing by Andrei Carlan, technical assistant Alex Vintilescu.

The State News Agency MOLDPRES of the Republic of Moldova supported AGERPRES Romanian News Agency in the makings of this documentary.

Throughout 2018, AGERPRES is to organise several events in Romania and abroad dedicated to the Greater Union Centennial. AGERPRES (RO - author: Irinela Visan, editor: Catalin Alexandru; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, Rodica State, editor: Rodica State, Cristina Zaharia)