After collecting applauses in a number of European capitals, the Moldovan movie Arrivederci produced by Valeriu Jereghi goes on a national tour on February 12. Arrivederci features two children abandoned in Moldova by their parents who work abroad. Two children aged 5 and 7 cope with poverty and loneliness and raise each other, waiting for the day when they could go to Italy to their mother. The life of the two Moldovan kids is described through the eyes of an Italian who came to their village by chance. The European MPs applauded the movie on January 26, when Arrivederci was screened in the hall of the European Parliament in Brussels. Later, the movie was shown in Paris, Madrid, Lisbon and Rome, including for the numerous Moldovans working there. “We did not aim to analyze the situation in Moldova from social and economic viewpoints. We went on the European tour in order to arouse emotions. Not only we but other European countries also experience such a situation,” Valeriu Jereghi has told Info-Prim Neo. The director says that his movie is universal. “In Italy, the movie was screened in Romanian and subtitled in English. It was praised and applauded even by those that know none of these languages. It is a picture that connects all the nationalities,” the Moldovan director said. In the European Union, the film crew met the Moldovans working there. ”Each of them is somehow connected with the tragedy of the characters. All of them left somebody at home,” said the director. The Moldovans watched the movie with tears in their eyes. In Rome, a woman with two children that remained in Moldova said crying that she sees now no other solution than going home. “We do not want to spoil these people’s lives, but we cannot destroy ourselves and disappear as nation because this country is based on family relations. Those that left forget about the Orthodox Church and accept Catholicism. The relations between children and parents become colder,” Jereghi said. Besides applauses and support from the European Parliament, the European tour helped director Valeriu Jereghi achieve professional success. In Rome, he had a meeting with filmmakers, producers, directors and actors. Italian cinematography star Franco Nero said that the movie should be watched by everyone. The director was offered cooperation between Prim-Plan Studio and the Rome studio Societa di produzione cinematografica Francesco Gagliardi produczion. When back home from the European tour, the movie will be shown in Moldovan cinemas. In Chisinau, it will be screened between February 12 and 15. At Odeon cinema, the film will be shown twice a day, at 16.00 and 18.00. The picture will be screened in Romanian and subtitled in Russian. The tickets are already on sale. The spectators will have by a meeting with the film crew. Between February 17 and 28, the movie will be shown in Soroca, Edinet, Calarasi, Balti, Ungheni, Straseni, Leova, Cahul, Bender and Tiraspol towns. “The only difficulty in the tour is the electoral period in Moldova. Some persons would like to use the film in their political fight,” said Valeriu Jereghi. The movie has nothing to do with politics, the director stressed. “It is a movie about the children’s great love for their mother. When the mother is gone, this love lives from biological instinct for a while, but then this instinct disappears. The aim of the national tour is to prevent this tragedy.” The movie was produced at Prim-Plan Studio by director and operator Valeriu Jereghi and his team composed of: Andrei Mudrea (scenography), who also played a part in the movie, Andrei Baluta (montage), Mihai Danila (film director), Oleg Grinko (assistant director) and Olga Pudnev (artistic picture). The key roles were played by brother and sister Ion and Mihaela Babenco. Prim-Plan Studio thanks the European Parliament, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Moldova, the Women’s Association of Moldova, Air Moldova Airline and Moldova-Film Studio for the assistance offered in the presentation of the movie in Europe and in Moldova. The informational support in Moldova is offered by Info-Prim Neo, Noutati-Moldova, RIA Novosti Moldova, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Timpul, www.allmoldova.md. www.ladyclub.md. Arrivederci won the Top Prize of the Euro-Asian Forum in Moscow in November last year.