Moldovan movie Arrivederci applauded in European Parliament

The movie Arrivederci produced by Valeriu Jereghi was shown in the European Parliament’s hall on January 26. When the screening was over, the members of the European Parliament gave a standing ovation to the film and the crew. “The movie was warmly welcomed,” producer Valeriu Jereghi has told Info-Prim Neo. The producer and the topic of the movie were presented to the MEPs by Marianne Mikko, the co-president of the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. In his welcoming speech addressed to the MEPs, Valeriu Jereghi thanked them for the offered opportunity and said that the screening at the European Parliament is more important than participation in international festivals. The producer stressed that the movie that does nothing but transpose a real tragedy in sounds and colors. “We, the film crew, tried to relate the drama of two children whose mother works abroad. Their father abandoned them. The children are aged 5 and 7, respectively, and live alone in poverty. They support each other and dream of growing older and going to Italy, where their mother works. Valeriu Jereghi expressed his confidence that the movie will find a powerful echo as similar dramas happen also in other European countries that experience exoduses of the people. This way, Arrivederci could be understood by many peoples that will ask themselves as the Moldovans do – what happened to our souls, why did we become estranged from each other, why can’t we offer warmth to our children?” The producer also said that besides the drama of abandoned children, the movie also addresses the temporary or even permanent abandonment of women by their husbands, who create new families abroad. At the end of his speech, Valeriu Jereghi proposed creating international mechanisms for preventing and combating the catastrophic effects of migration. “It is for the first time in the history of the European Parliament that the producers of a feature film are invited to a screening and discussion in this institution,” Valeriu Jereghi said. The visit to the European Parliament is the first leg of a European tour during which the movie will be shown in Brussels, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon and Roma, including for numerous Moldovans living there. Afterward, the movie will be screened in a number of Moldovan towns. 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.