Culture and Sports: Romanian success in Cannes
28/05/2008
A short film from Romania won the Palme d'Or at the 61st Cannes Film Festival. Also this week: a Bulgarian sumo wrestler wins Japan's Emperor's Cup, and Zagreb hosts the 25th Dance Week festival.
 Romanian director Marian Crisan. [Gabriel Perescu] |
Romanian director Marian Crisan's short film, "Megatron", won the Palme d'Or at the 61st Cannes Film Festival, held from May 14th to Sunday (May 25th). "Snow" by Bosnian director Aida Begic won the Cannes Critics' Week Grand Prix. Kosovo born actress Arta Dobroshi earned a nomination for best female performance for her role in "Lorna's Silence", produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, who won Best Screenplay.
***
Bulgaria's Kotooshu became the first European to win the Japanese Emperor's Cup at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on Saturday (May 24th). Kotooshu gained the title with a score of 13-1. He is the seventh foreigner to win the Emperor's Cup.
***
Students of Turkish from 110 countries are taking part in the 6th International Turkish Language Olympics that opened on Friday (May 23rd) in Ankara. Participants compete in 13 categories, including conversation, writing, grammar, singing, poetry recital, presentation, general culture and article writing.
***
The International Fair of Economy, Agriculture, Food and Tourism, "The Days of Cherry 2008", opened in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), on Friday (May 23rd). More than 150 exhibitors from BiH and neighbouring countries take part in the event. The BiH producers' association of organic products, "Organic", is the main sponsor.
***
The 25th Dance Week festival began in Zagreb on Monday (May 26th) with a performance of "La Pudeur des Icebergs" by the Canadian company Daniel Leveille Danse. The festival, featuring 12 companies from five continents, will showcase the latest choreographic trends. The festival closes Tuesday.
***
An event promoting use of the Cyrillic alphabet was held in Skopje's Macedonia Square on Monday (May 26th). The event is part of the campaign "As Long as I Write in Cyrillic, I Exist!" which runs through June 10th.
***
Albanian mogul Dritan Hoxha, 40, who owned his country's largest media company, Top Media, died on Friday (May 23rd) in a car crash in Tirana. Hoxha's corporate empire included Top Channel television and a 24-hour news channel.
(Various sources – 21/05/08-28/05/08)
Email to a friend
Print Version 
Destination: Balkans
Visa-free travel: the road ahead
Europe votes -- EP elections 2009
Turkey: The Promise and the Challenge
The Hague's Most Wanted
Building Kosovo
We welcome your comments on SETimes's articles.
It is our hope that you will use this forum to interact with other readers across Southeast Europe. In order to keep this experience interesting, we ask you to follow the rules outlined in the comments policy. By submitting comments, you are consenting to these rules. While SETimes.com encourages discussion on all subjects, including sensitive ones, the comments posted are solely the views of those submitting them. SETimes.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with the ideas, views, or opinions voiced in these comments. SETimes.com welcomes constructive discussion but discourages the use of copy-pasted materials, unaccompanied links and one-line slogans. This is a moderated forum. Comments deemed abusive, offensive, or those containing profanity may not be published.
SETimes's Comments Policy