• All ticket sales will be donated to Casa Share
  • Director Paul Schrader in dialogue via Skype at the premiere of First Reformed, on April 13th, at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului

In October 2018, an article about Roxana, a student from Vaslui living with her family (including five siblings), was making waves of emotion across the country. The 9-year-old girl said she wished she could have some “cookies, meat and mashed potatoes, and a salad,” like the other kids. Unfortunately, her family, living in poverty, would often have no choice but to send her to school hungry. Many reacted to her situation and sent either goods or financing, and Bogdan Tănasă, the coordinator of the humanitarian project Casa Share, had the idea to offer the family a more durable form of aid. In just two weeks, he built a house for Roxana’s family; the 19th since the establishment of the Casa Share Association.

Intent on continuing its humanitarian incentives, the American Independent Film Festival will donate all proceeds from ticket sales to Casa Share this year. Buy a ticket to any film screening in the program and you will contribute to the completion of Casa Share nr. 20, as well as to the construction of an educational Day Center, dedicated to children of families living under the poverty line.

Casa Share was founded in 2014, and is the only humanitarian project of its kind in Romania. Concerned of the difficult conditions under which many were living in his hometown, and drawing on his own tough childhood in Popricani, Bogdan, now based in Iași, used his own Facebook account in order to call on friends to donate or share the message through their own accounts, in order to reach as many people as possible. Share after share until thousands had been reached, Bogdan Tănasă has, to date, built 20 houses for families in need. Casa Share has amassed a community of over 135,000 people who believe in Bogdan’s cause, and thousands of volunteers in Romania and abroad who are directly implicated in the project.

Bogdan Tănasă will be present at the screening of First Reformed at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, on Saturday, April 13th, at 8:00 pm in order to speak to the public in Bucharest about his project. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Paul Schrader via Skype, a true icon of American independent cinema.

Film critic, screenwriter, and American director, Paul Schrader’s name will always remain tied, in the history of cinema, to Taxi Driver (1976), a film now turned cult, which Martin Scorsese directed, and Schrader wrote. They repeated their collaboration on Raging Bull (1980), The Last Tempation of Christ (1988) and Bringing Out the Dead (1999), while Schrader also worked with Brian De Palma on Obsession (1976), and with Peter Weir on The Mosquito Coast (1986). In the film criticism world, Schrader broadly discussed his influences in Transcendental Style in FilmOzu, Bresson, Dreyer (1972) – enriching each re-publication with new entries concerning modern world cinema trends. As a director, he has made films such as American Gigolo (1980) and Cat People (1982); however, it is his Japanese co-production Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) that many critics consider his most original work. Following a period of experimentation with different film styles, usually opting for independent, small budget film, Schrader has recaptured spectators and critics’ eyes with First Reformed. A film for which he received, towards the end of his career, his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, First Reformed explores life and death through the story of Reverend Toller, whose faith is put to the test by a couple with major marital issues.

The American Independent Film Festival is also continuing its charitable screenings dedicated to children in the social system, who don’t have the opportunity to go to the cinema. The screening will take place on Sunday, April 14th, at Cinema PRO, and is organized with the support of the Salvați Copiii and S.O.S. Satele Copiilor Associations, the Principesa Margareta Foundation, and the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption – sector 1, 4, and 6.

Tickets to films screening in the festival of program can be purchased through Eventbook.ro. The complete screening program is accessible on filmedefestival.roInformation concerning tickets and purchasing are available on 

Those who wish to support the Casa Share project can help by purchasing tickets to the festival or by donating:

Send an SMS to 8844 with the message “CASA” or make a donation using the following data: Tănasă Bogdan, Banca Raiffeisen, Iaşi, România, cod poştal 700049.
IBAN Account in LEI: RO37 RZBR 0000 0600 0633 4312
IBAN Account in EURO: RO29 RZBR 0000 0600 0357 8104
Swift Code: RZBR, COD Bic: ROBU (for both accounts).
PayPal: bogdantanasa75@yahoo.com.

More information about the Casa Share project: facebook.com/casashareromania/

The American Independent Film Festival is organized by Asociația Cinemascop, with the support of Catena, financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, and the National Center of Cinematography. Official Car: BMW. Partners: Athenee Palace Hilton, PepsiCo Romania, UPS Romania, American Chamber of Commerce in Romania – AmCham Romania, Boarder’s Shop, Crăci, CinemaPRO, Muzeul Țăranului Român, Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, Voodoo Films, Eventbook, Lokal. Main Media Partners: Pro Cinema, Radio Guerrilla. Media Parteners: Radio România Cultural, Agerpres, Zile și Nopți, Decât o Revistă, AList Magazine, Cinemagia, Newsweek, Business24, Nine O’clock, Senso TV, Glamour, The Institute, Ziarul Metropolis, Liternet.ro, Ziare.com, IQads, Smark, Film Menu, Films in Frame, ADFR – The Association for the Development of Romanian Films, AaRC – All about Romanian Cinema, CineFan, Cineghid, Movienews.ro, News.ro, Scena 9, Verbs Describe us. Communications Partner: PiArt Vision.