The 12th edition of the Gopo Awards took place on Tuesday, March 27th, at the National Theatre of Bucharest. These famous awards are also called ‘the equivalent of the Oscars in the Romanian film industry’.

The event was hosted by Alexandru Bogdan for the third year in a row. The 2018 Gopo Gala represented a celebration and a recognition of the most appreciated actors, directors, Romanian filmmakers and productions screened between 1^st of January and 31^st of December 2017.

All the films nominated for the Gopo Prizes have been selected by a jury formed of professionals from this field: Nap Toader (director), Iuliana Tarnovețchi (producer), Barbu Bălășoiu (DOP), Radu Corciova (production designer), Gabriela Albu (film programme coordinator) and the film critics Irina Margareta Nistor, Cătălin Olaru, Cristian Mărculescu, Angelo Mitchievici and Ion Indolean.

The jury which chose the winners of the 2018 Gopo Gala featured almost 450 active members of the Romanian film industry.

‘One step behind the seraphim’ was the winner of this year’s award for Best Picture, and Daniel Sandu received the trophy for Best Director.

The most awarded film of the night was ‘One step behind the seraphim’ (8 awards) directed by Daniel Sandu, followed by ‘6,9 on the Richter scale’ signed by Nae Caranfil, with 5 trophies.

In 2017, the Best Director Prize was given to Cristi Puiu for the film ‘Sieranevada’.

Here are all the winners of the 2018 Gopo Awards:

Best feature film: ‘One step behind the seraphim’ (dir. Daniel Sandu)

Dearly beloved, dear filmmakers, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your votes, for the solidarity and for the past 25 years in which I had an extraordinary family at home, and extraordinary families at work. – Ada Solomon (producer)

Best director: Daniel Sandu (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

I have to be honest and say that winning this award is a small surprise for me. But, I know that there are a lot of people more surprised than me, which is why I enjoy more this moment. – Daniel Sandu

Best leading actor: Vlad Ivanov (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

‘Because once every few years I have the opportunity of meeting and having next to me a lot of personalities from the Romanian cinema, people who make films with their soul and with professionalism, people from whom I have learned, who have given me a chance when they understood that you don’t have to be 80 to be talented, experienced actors from whom I have learned, young actors at the beginning of the carrier whom I respect for their commitment; I am grateful for all these things and for the joy you bring me when you invite me on the film set.’ – Vlad Ivanov

Best leading actress: Diana Cavallioti (‘Ana, mon amour’)

Best supporting actor: Ali Amir (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

Best supporting actress: Diana Spătărescu (‘Fixeur’)

Best screenplay: Daniel Sandu (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

Best cinematography: George Dăscălescu (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

Best film editing: Dana Bunescu (‘Ana, mon amour’)

Best sound editing: Aleksander Simeonov, Tamas Szekely, Florin Tăbăcaru și Alexandru Dumitru (‘6,9 on the Richter scale’)

Best original music score: Nae Caranfil, Bogdan Dimitriu, Liviu Mănescu (‘6,9 on the Richter scale’)

Best production design: Andreea Popa (‘6,9 on the Richter scale’)

Best costumes: Doina Levintza și Adina Bucur (‘6,9 on the Richter scale’)

Best makeup and hairstyling: Cătălin Ciutu, Dana Roșeanu și Iulia Roșeanu (‘6,9 on the Richter scale’)

Best debut film: Daniel Sandu (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

Best documentary: ‘Planet Petrila’ (dir. Andrei Dăscălescu)

Best short film: Written/Unwritten (dir. Adrian Silișteanu)

Newcomer: Ștefan Iancu (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

Romanian Society of Cinematographers Award: George Dăscălescu (‘One step behind the seraphim’)

Best European Film: ‘On Body and Soul (r. Ildikó Enyedi; Hungary)

‘This film taught us something very important: don’t forget to believe in dreams. This is also what we want you to do.’ (Monica Felea – Bad Unicorn)

Audience award for the greatest box office success in 2017: ‘Octav’ (dir. Sergiu Celebidachi)

Audience award for the highest incomes: ‘Ghinionistul’ (dir. Iura Luncașu)

2018 Gopo Special Award: Bujor T. Rîpeanu (film critic and historian)

Gopo Lifetime Achievement Award: Ion Marinescu (DOP and producer), Sanda Toma (actress), and George Mihăiță and Vladimir Găitan, celebrating 50 years since ‘Reconstituirea’ was launched.

After Florin (Piersic) and Medeea (Marinescu) you can’t say anything else than ‘the end’. It’s the single word that they didn’t say. I would like to thank all the people with whom I have worked in the past 50 years.’ – Ion Marinescu

I would like to ‘take my hat off’ for all the Romanian filmmakers and for the audience. I dedicate this award to Lucian Pintilie.’ –  George Mihăiță

At one moment I asked George Mihăiță ‘George, do you know these kids?’, and he looked at me and said ‘No, but don’t worry, they don’t know us either’. Your cheering contradicts him, though, and I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. And because I know it’s very late, please give me the chance to dedicate this award to my dearest people who supported me for better and worse – my family.’ – Vladimir Găitan

Romina Banu

Photographer and editor; she co-founded Dissolved Magazine together with Melissa. For Films in Frame she gathers film and TV series recommendations for lazy weekends and she writes about interesting projects from the film industry. Other than that, she likes traveling, chilling with her cats and sleeping.