The director of the National Cinematography Center (NCC) Valeriu Jereghi pursues the goal of splitting the professional filmmakers’ community by private discussions and public statements, including on social networking sites, and by not ensuring equidistance and transparency in the work of the public institution he heads. The accusations were made in a news conference at IPN by a group of film directors and producers.
“If the NCC aims to split the guild, it means that the Center develops a system that is designed only for a part of the cinematographic guild. There are probably particular discrediting reasons. As we do not know where we go to, an organic division occurs. There are jungle-like conditions that are somehow caused by the current administration of the NCC,” said the director of “Umbrela” studio Sergiu Zanoaga.
As to the unclear rules of submitting applications to take part in the new cinematographic contest launched by the National Cinematography Center, Sergiu Zanoaga said that when public money is involved, there should be only one risk – that the scenario proposed by a participant in the contest is bad. “There should be no other risks, related to reporting, transfers from one year to another. The end does not justify the means when it goes to the law,” stated Sergiu Zanoaga.
A number of Moldovan film directors and producers requested the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research to assess the financial year 2017 of the NCC and to ask for a report from the Court of Auditors on the Center’s financial activity last year, before the launch of a new cinematographic contest. According to them, last year the contest was held with multiple violations and the rules of submitting applications this year are also unclear.
Last December, a number of film directors and producers accused the National Cinematography Center of discrediting Moldovan cinematography at national and foreign levels and the institution’s director Valeriu Jereghi of persecuting the filmmakers who do not share his views.
