The film The New Year That Never Came, directed by Bogdan Muresanu, won the Grand Prize and the Romanian Filmmakers Union (UCIN) Trophy at the 2025 UCIN Awards Gala, held on Monday evening at the Bucharest National Opera House, told Agerpres.
The award was presented by Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Adrian Cozma praised the high calibre of the UCIN Gala, highlighting the strong collaboration with filmmakers from across the Prut and acknowledging that politics has done too little for Romanian cinema. He expressed hope that cooperation with UCIN would improve the situation, noting that Romanian films and artists have achieved global recognition and bring pride to the country.
Director Bogdan Muresanu said the award belongs to the team behind The New Year That Never Came.
"I want to say goodbye to this film after a full year and hope it really becomes The New Year That Never Came. I'll retreat to my cave and come back with something new. I want to thank the amazing people who contributed to this film, which was very difficult to make. It might not seem so, but any film in Romania is terribly hard to shoot, produce and release," Muresanu said.
The New Year That Never Came also received awards for Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Emilia Dobrin), Best Editing (Mircea Lacatus and Vanja Kovacevic), Best Soundtrack (Sebastian Zsemlye), Best Make-up (Iulia Roseanu), and the Critics' Association Award (Bogdan Muresanu).
The 2025 UCIN Awards went to:
Grand Prize and the Romanian Filmmakers Union Trophy: The New Year That Never Came, directed by Bogdan Muresanu
Special Jury Prize: Morometii 3, directed by Stere Gulea
Lucian Pintilie Directing Award: Andrei Cohn, for The Great Week
Best Screenplay: Bogdan Muresanu, for The New Year That Never Came
Best Cinematography: Andrei Butica, for The Great Week
Best Costume Design: Viorica Petrovici, for The Great Week
Best Set Design: Cristian Niculescu, for The Great Week
Best Actress: Emilia Dobrin, as Margareta Dinca in The New Year That Never Came
Best Actor: Doru Bem, as Leiba in The Great Week
Best Supporting Actress: Ana Ciontea, as Valeria Binder in Familiar
Best Supporting Actor: Ciprian Chiriches, as Gheorghe in The Great Week
Best Editing: Mircea Lacatus and Vanja Kovacevic, for The New Year That Never Came
Best Soundtrack: Sebastian Zsemlye, for The New Year That Never Came
Adrian Enescu Original Music Award: Cristian Lolea, for Morometii 3
Best Make-up: Iulia Roseanu, for The New Year That Never Came
Best Fiction Short Film: Flowers, Girls and Boys, directed by Simona Borcea
Best Documentary: Maia - Portrait with Hands, directed by Alexandra Gulea
Best Animated Film: White Noise, directed by Alexia-Ioana Badea
Best Television Film: Ivan, the Man with Roots in the Water, directed by Ana Preda
Alexandru Tatos Debut Award: Ana Maria Comanescu, for Horia
Cinematic Hope Award: Carina Lapusneanu, for her role as Leni in Where Elephants Go
This year's UCIN Awards jury was chaired by film critic and historian Dana Duma, secretary of the UCIN Film Critics and Scholars Association, and included film critic Magda Mihailescu, writer and film critic Angelo Mitchievici, vice president of the Writers' Union, film critic Mihai Fulger, and film critic and historian Dinu Ioan Nicula..
Additional awards were also presented during the gala: Mihnea Gheorghiu Academic Awards: actress Coca Bloos and Moldovan director Vlad Druc; Excellence Awards: Dumitru Olarescu, for "Film: The Artistic Transfiguration of Reality", and Virgil Margineanu, president of the Filmmakers' Union of the Republic of Moldova; UCIN President's Award: actor Valeriu Andriuta.
The UCIN Critics' and Film Scholars' Association also granted: George Littera Film Book Award: director Stere Gulea, for Letters to My Granddaughters; Ion Cantacuzino Award for Film Journalism: Constantin Parvulescu, director of the Janovics Centre for Screen and Performing Arts Studies at Babes-Bolyai University, for "his consistent contributions published both abroad and in Romania"; Critics' Association Award: Bogdan Muresanu
The gala was hosted by Alexandra Velniciuc and Bogdan Chenciu, with musical performances by Ioana Dichiseanu and tenor Andrei Petre, accompanied by the Bucharest National Opera Orchestra conducted by Alexandru Ilie.
The event was organised by the Romanian Filmmakers Union and produced by the CineCultura Association.
Comentează