BOX OFFICE Romania

by Ştefan Dobroiu

02/11/2016 - Paul Negoescu’s rare audience darling can be seen at the imminent Thessaloniki International Film Festival

The number of new Romanian movies that have succeeded in earning back their production budget can be counted on one hand (even with some fingers missing). This is the reason why Paul Negoescu’s buddy comedy Two Lottery Tickets should thrill the Romanian film industry: made independently with a budget of €30,000, the film has just passed the €400,000 threshold.

Produced by Actoriedefilm.ro, the film follows three friends who lose their winning lottery ticket and must get it back. The main characters are played by Dragoş Bucur, Alexandru Papadopol and Dorian Boguţă, who are also the producers, together with Negoescu.

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Two Lottery Tickets is one of the few Romanian movies distributed locally by a major distributor, Ro Image 2000, the exclusive distributor of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures titles in Romania. It is also one of the few local films that benefited from a very strong promotional campaign consisting of a series of amusing sketches starring the film’s protagonists, alongside another campaign that promised the audience that at certain screenings, the spectators would be reimbursed the price of the ticket if they didn’t laugh.

Negoescu tells Cineuropa the film’s popularity can be explained by the fact that Two Lottery Tickets is unpretentious and also by the fact that it was independently produced, with no help from the Romanian National Film Center. “Cinema support in Romania is awarded based on a scheme that favours festival-selected and award-winning directors, which makes all filmmakers eye festival selections and awards when making a film, as this is their only chance to receive support for their next project.” According to Negoescu, this obsession with awards and the lack of artistic sincerity it may trigger are badly received by the audience, which is more open to approachable features, like his movie.

Plans for a sequel are now in the pipeline, with summer 2018 being eyed as a suitable time for shooting.