The #ADFRSurvival micro-grants program is an initiative by ADFR that wishes to offer support to Romanian independent film artists who were left with no source of income in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There have been 44 applications sent by emerging artists and independent actors, and the evaluation committee, consisting of Laura Mușat (ADFR founder), Alexandra Safriuc (ADFR Masterclasses Coordinator & Co-founder / Artistic Director of ShortsUP) and Iulia Popovici (Film & Theater Critic / Co-founder of the Trans-sectorial Association of Independents in Culture), has selected the 6 beneficiaries who will receive the micro-grants worth 500 euros each.

They were publicly announced on May 1, 2020:

– Rolando Matsangos – actor, Bucharest

– Paul Sebastian Popa – actor, Cluj

– Norbert Fodor – director, Bucharest – Cluj Napoca

– Elena Bolintiru – director of photography, Bucharest

– Elena Sucioaia – set designer, Bucharest

– Iuliana Ranta – set designer, Piatra Neamț

Of the 44 applications, 34 were eligible, 14 were submitted by actors and 20 by representatives of the local film industry. The selection process has taken into account the degree to which the area of work has been affected by the instalment of the state of emergency in Romania,  the extent to which the applicant can carry out his activity by teleworking, and the immediate need for a source of income.

As its name suggests, #ADFRSurvival has sought to provide “survival” assistance to those working in the film sector who need it most at the moment.

For this session, the idea of “survival” has been our priority all the way, and we chose those people who met the given requirements and haven’t received additional help from other institutions. Most of the actors who applied to #ADFRSurvival have received financial support from the government in the meantime – which is exactly the reason why we decided to offer 4 micro-grants to the “Emerging Talents” category, where the need for finance proved to be much higher. (Laura Mușat)

Half of me is sad and half is happy about the ADFR micro-grants. On the one hand, I enjoyed reading about active, dynamic people, passionate about their work, on the other hand, it’s painful to see the effects that this crisis has on young artists, who already have an unstable situation. It was quite complicated to make the selection, it’s like playing Solomon, but I’m glad that ADFR exists and for its contribution, no matter how small, to the survival of our environment. (Iulia Popovici)

We tried to offer these grants to those who managed, prior to this crisis, to support themselves from artistic activities, hoping that they will be able to get over this period, without having to find a new line of work. (Alexandra Safriuc)

Melissa Antonescu

Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.