If you are in Sibiu until Sunday, drop by at ESTE FILM Festival, celebrating its 8th edition. The competition, featuring Romanian short films, is accompanied by a special programme dedicated to Mexican cinema, more precisely Mexico City, and what must be the loveliest mix of recent films, with Bas Devos’ tender Here (easily my favourite of 2023), Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan Fallen Leaves, and Alice Rohrwacher’s magical La Chimera, all stories of romance and wonder. In Bucharest, the American Independent Film Festival, also at its 8th edition, will kick off on 7 June (until 13 June, and also trave ..read more

The Social Democrat Party (PSD), part of the governing coalition with the National Liberal Party (PNL), has attracted most of the mayors that decided to change parties before this year’s local elections, a report by think-tank Expert Forum shows. The PSD attracted 279 candidates, most of them from PNL (174) and the People's Movement Party PMP (27). It also lost 48 candidates.  In its turn, PNL attracted 99 candidates, most of them from PSD (39) and independents (21), while losing 188 candidates. The opposition party Save Romania Union (USR) lost 26 mayors, more than half of them to PSD. O ..read more

Romanian actor Ioachim Ciobanu stars in the newly released Netflix miniseries "Eric," with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. The show premiered on May 30. Ioachim studied computer arts in San Francisco and then film editing at UNATC "I.L. Caragiale," directing numerous short films and commercials. Since 2013, he has dedicated himself exclusively to acting, working with American acting coach Ivana Chubbuck and debuting on the big screen in 2014. His career quickly grew with over 20 roles in feature films and television series, collaborating with award-winning directors such as Cristian Mun ..read more

AfterLand, an exhibition opening on June 4 at Rezidenta9 in Bucharest, brings together works by an international group of artists working at the intersection between art, science, and nature. Each of them has a particular affinity with water, approaching it from different angles as varied as the symbolic values of the element itself, according to a presentation of the exhibition, described as a unique effort of revelation and context creation at the crossroads of disciplines and mindsets. Clara Boj and Diego Diaz (Spain) build on their experience as participants in the Mar Menor, an interdisci ..read more

Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo announced on May 31 that it completed the acquisition of the Romanian group First Bank S.A. from the US-based private investment fund J.C. Flowers & Co. The takeover allows Intesa Sanpaolo to double its presence in Romania, where it has been active since 1996. The acquisition also strengthens the competitive positioning of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group in the local market, including it in the top 10 banks in Romania. “Following the signing on October 28, 2023, by Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. and JCF Tiger Holdings S.A.R.L., the majority shareholder of ..read more

The virtual museum Herculane Stories was launched on May 30 in the historic Casino building at Băile Herculane, highlighting the past of the resort. The initiative, developed over the past year by the ESCU Association, involved the collection, digitalization, research, and processing of thousands of materials and objects closely related to the spa resort's heritage. The virtual museum was a significant collaborative effort that brought together cultural operators, institutions, experts, collectors, new media developers and programmers, personalities, and local community members to recover and ..read more

Integrated energy producer OMV Petrom said on May 31 that it closed the acquisition of Renovatio Asset Management, the owner of the largest charging network for electric vehicles in Romania, with over 400 charging points and growth prospects to approximately 650 by 2026. Following this deal, OMV Petrom becomes the largest player in the field of electric mobility in Romania.  The transaction was approved by the Competition Council and the Commission for Foreign Direct Investment Screening. At the end of the first quarter of 2024, there were approximately 300 charging points in OMV and ..read more

Europol has taken control of over 100 servers in nine European countries, including Romania, in the largest operation against bot systems used for malware cyberattacks.  Operation Endgame, as Europol titled the action, focused on disrupting criminal services by arresting High-Value Targets, taking down criminal infrastructures, and freezing illegal proceeds. It targeted droppers including IcedID, SystemBC, Pikabot, Smokeloader, Bumblebee, and Trickbot. These malware droppers are a type of malicious software designed to install other malware onto a target system. They are used in the first ..read more

Stables space in Cluj, owned by COS, generated revenues of EUR 423,000 in 2023, accounting for 70% of the total COS shared offices and coworking business.  Stables' occupancy rate was 95% last year, up by 15 percentage points compared to the previous year.   75% of the demand for shared offices and coworking office comes from well-established companies or big corporations, not from freelance activity. The significant volume of demand for shared offices and coworking space is correlated with the dynamics of technology and start-ups. 70% of COS clients in this segment come from these ..read more

Romania’s GDP could increase by EUR 14 to EUR 16 billion over the next ten years if the country adopts generative AI extensively, the survey The Economic Opportunity of AI shows. The survey, covering the region of Central and Eastern Europe, was commissioned by Google and conducted by the Scandinavian management consultancy firm Implement Consulting Group. The boost to the country’s GDP, corresponding to a 5% growth, would be mainly driven by an increase in productivity for more than half of the employees in Romania, the time gained from automating several tasks and investing this resource in ..read more