Republic of Moldova cinemas forced to run Romanian subtitled films

Luni, 11 ianuarie 2010, 11:44 English | Regional Europe

The Government in Chisinau will vote in the months to come a regulation that will force cinema operators from the Republic of Moldova to run films with Romanian subtitles. The announcement was made by Moldovan Culture minister Boris Focsa during an intervention at the ProTV Chisinau channel, according to Unimedia.

"Why wouldn't our folks see original movies? We'll see how it goes in three-four months. Through this measure, the Russian speakers will have the chance to learn the mother-language of the land they reside", Focsa said.

On the other hand, owner of the largest cinema chain in Moldova, namely Patria, advices the Culture minister to "run his Romanian subtitled movies in the approximately 40 state cinemas which are closed". "Why should a private economic agent be forced to run Romanian-subtitled movies? It is technically impossible at the moment. We need costly special equipment. The measure will chase 90% of film lovers out of the theatres", Selin claims.

Unmedia notes that Patria cinema network currently runs films exclusively dubbed in Russian. Recently, on Facebook, a group supporting the Romanian subtitled movies in Moldavian theatres was created. Over 1,200 people joined this group so far.