1 OCT 2013 | 6:30 PM - 7:50 PM at Raţiu Family Foundation/ Romanian Cultural Centre in London: Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 6EQ ADMISSION FREE, but booking is essential at bookings@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Nicolae Raţiu (Chairman of Raţiu Family Foundation) and Șerban Cantacuzino (Founder and President of ProPatrimonio).
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After 14 years of determined resistance to the largest cyanide mining project in Europe, Romanians have been sabotaged by their own political leaders. The Government of Romania has recently put forward a proposed bill to be voted in parliament, which would allow the controversial Roșia Montană mining project to commence.
As a horrified reaction to this, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Romania and around the world, in what is characterised as the largest youth-led protest movement since the 1989 revolution.
ROȘIA MONTANĂ has been thrown into a state of disarray ever since the arrival of a Romanian gold mining corporation with powerful Canadian shareholders. The corporation is planning on razing a large portion of the town and its surroundings to the ground in order to gain access to the underlying rock, which happens to hold the largest gold deposits in Europe. The mining process will involve the use of highly toxic cyanide to extract the gold from the rock – justified by the company as a necessary risk to spur economic development in the area, but potentially fatal to the local environment and the beautiful surrounding landscape.
A long-standing fight has torn apart the village community, where the division between opponents and supporters of the mining project even splits families down the middle.
'Roșia Montană – Town on the brink' has been well received at international film festivals, winning the Special award for Best Romanian Documentary at Astra Film Festival, Sibiu and the Jury award for Best Long Documentary at Al Jazeera Film Festival. ............................................................................................................................................ Roșia Montană – Town on the brink Director: Fabian Daub Bildfolge Filmproduktion 2012 | Documentary | 78 Minutes Languages: Romanian / English | Subtitles: English Oficial website: http://www.rosiamontana-thefilm.com/ ............................................................................................................................................
The event includes a photo exhibition, featuring works by Sebastian Florian, Adrian Petrisor, Tiberiu-Mihail Cimpoeru, Viorel Popescu, Cristian Vasile and Catalin Emil Burlacu.
A reception sponsored by Deli Twist will follow the event. Deli Twist is a patisserie serving freshly baked pretzels, pastries and also sweet and savoury twisters.
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Roșia Montană in the international press:
CNNi Raport ‘The Arab Spring, the Turkish Summer, The Romanian Autumn’: Romanian protests as a model of peaceful demonstration’ by Raluca Besliu ‘Romania: three weeks of continuous protests against cyanide mining project’ by Raluca Besliu
The Ecologist ‘Open Letter to Prince Charles about Cyanide mining in Romania’ from Rupert Wolfe Murray
FOX News ‘Thousands protest Romania gold mine plans’
Huffington Post Collage ‘Saving Roşia Montana from International Trade Law’ by Adam Cernea Clark
Huff Post World ‘Is Cyanide in Its Autumn Hours? Greener Gold and the International Implications of a Romanian Ban on Cyanide’ by Adam Cernea Clark
Mining.com ‘Thousands of Romanians protest gold mine’ by By Ana Komnenic
New Easter Europe ‘Why Romania Needed Roșia Montană’ by Ioana Burtea
PBS ‘Gold Futures Rosia Montana and the Gold Mine’ by Craig S. Smith
New Environmentalist ‘Rosia Montana: a deadly shade of Gold…our glitter story of Transylvanian gold with a sweet after-taste of cyanide’ by Ciprian Diaconita and Ion Holban
The Economist ‘Golden profits v environmental concerns’ by L.C
The Guardian ‘Romanians mobilise in protest against gold mine plans’ by Claudia Ciobanu ‘Protests continue in Bucharest against gold mine plan in Rosia Montana’ by Grace Wong ‘Romania's struggle for democracy is encapsulated in a village’ by Claudia Ciobanu
The Journalist ‘Europe’s Ecological Time Bomb: Rosia Montana Gold Mine in the Hills of Romania’ by Randy Gener
The New York Times ‘Fighting Over Gold in the Land of Dracula’ by Craig S. Smith
The Independent ‘Romanians protest in Trafalgar Square against cyanide mining in Rosia Montana’ by Stephen McGrath
Politics in Spires ‘The Hypocrisy of the Romanian Government: Why the Rosia Montana project must be stopped’ by Raluca Besliu
The Globe and Mail ‘How far to go for gold?’ by Eric Reguly
Cluj Info ‘Un argument economic împotriva exploatării aurului de la Roşia Montană’ by Marcel Ionescu-Heroiu
