Culture and Sports: Romania's Boitor is runner-up at Miss World

04/10/2006

The 17-year-old came in second to the Czech Republic's Tatana Kucharova. Also in culture and sports news: Bulgarians take home three medals from the Senior World Wrestling Championship in Guangzhou, Macedonia hosts the Manaki Brothers film festival, and a new open theatre is launched in Mostar.

Ioana Valentina Boitor (left) won second place at the Miss World competition in Warsaw. Tatana Kucharova of the Czech Republic was first. [Getty Images]

Romania's Ioana Valentina Boitor won second place at the Miss World 2006 beauty contest, held in Warsaw, Poland. The 17-year old high school student finished second to the Czech Republic's Tatana Kucharova. Australia's Sabrina Houssami, 20, was third.

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Bulgaria won three medals -- two gold and one bronze -- at the Senior World Wrestling Championship in Guangzhou, China. Stanka Zlateva won the first world title for Bulgaria in women's wrestling, defeating five-time world champion Kioko Hamaguchi of Japan. Radoslav Velikov became world champion in the Free Style category, while Kaloyan Dinchev won a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman category.

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Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu's film "12:08 East of Bucharest" won awards for Best Film and for Best Screenplay at this year's Copenhagen International Film Festival. This is the latest international honour for Porumboiu's first feature-length work, following prizes from the Cannes and Transylvania film festivals earlier this year.

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Belgian cinematographer Stephane Fontaine won the Golden Camera 300 grand prize at the International Cinematographers Film Festival "Manaki Brothers" in Bitola, Macedonia. Fontaine was honoured for his work in the movie "The Beat That My Heart Skipped". The silver Camera 300 award went to Russia's Yuri Klemenko for the film "Dreaming of Space", while the bronze was won by Germany's Kolja Brandt for "Tough Enough".

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Sixteen-year old Viviane Lisbeth Ramos Puma of Venezuela won the 2006 Miss Globe International beauty contest in Butrint, Albania. Spain's Marian Karian Cabrera, 22, was runner-up, while Albania's Silvi Skenderaj, 17, was third.

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A new open theatre in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Open Theatre Stone Stage, was officially inaugurated last week. A local initiative committee launched the project, with financing from Bridges Boundaries International.

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An exhibition presenting the best achievements of Croatian photo reporters from the past year opened at the Gallery Badrov in Zagreb. The Association of Photo Reporters HND organised the event.

(Various sources – 27/09/06 - 04/10/06)