Iona

Lalalilu Or The Stolen Childhood Of Romanian Film

click here to see trailer Present-day Romanian film lives a new childhood, if we consider at least the representatives of the New Wave, who are young and very young film directors with ages between 20 and 30. That is why their films are naïve, very close to childhood or

Creangă And Gopo

Gopo's Little Man (see Short History - click on Scurta istorie to see movie) I have been studying the Gopo archive belonging to the National Film Archive for some years, and now the first volume goes to print. It contains only a part of the legacy left by the film genius,

From The Musical Folklore Of Children To The Comic Opera For Children

In 1954, the great Romanian ethnomusicologist Constantin Brăiloiu (1893-1958) held a scientific presentation at Colloque de Wegimont in Belgium that amazed all specialists present in the audience, because it unsettled all theories regarding the musical culture of children

Sweet Holiday Camp

School always began on September 1st and ended on the last day of May. September 1st was the first day of school and it started off with an impressive festivity. All of us, dressed-up and with flowers in our hands, went to the official square where the first bell was rung.

The Erstwhile Snows

Winters in Ramnicu Valcea were quite mild in those times, though there was plenty of snow (I guess this is the cliché of those whose childhood memories are blurred by their excessive subjectivity); anyway, they unfolded following a certain ritual: at the beginning of December

Toys And Games As Seen By Children And Parents

excerpts In 1888, popular health magazines would dedicate generous coverage to children's games, at the top of their education column. The main endeavor of parents must reside in the education of their infants from their very first day of life onwards, for health,

I Once Was A Child: School

Between September 15 and June 15, every child's life was hijacked by school. School was the children's only officially-sanctioned pursuit. Their only obligation. None of us got any thrill out of getting up early, eyes heavy with sleep, and trudging all the way

Cismigiu & Co.

excerpt  Among our scholarly workmates three or four quickly distinguished themselves, and they would compete against each other for first place in our class. Our former prize winning classmate, Motas Constantin, had moved to a science class. Now two pupils, Ciurea Constantin

Master Trandafir

excerpt  II Ever since the day I came back here, to our old little borough, I have hardly had one idle moment. I scoured all the familiar haunts that still brought to mind the childhood memories – the bright memories of a long gone childhood. I saw, on the banks of

Investigation Among Minors

excerpts THREE KM. FROM A. , A BEND IN THE ROAD… N. R. 6 (National Road 6) goes exactly through the centre of the small town of A. Three kilometers from the railway gate, after going over the railway tracks which unite this part of the country with Bucharest (distance:

Musics And Tricks

excerpt AAAGH, WHAT A NIGHTMARE! I jumped up and forgot it was Sunday. I was just about to get dressed and go to school, to find out if Hari had come to any harm; I was like one of those old biddies who dream I don't know what, a black pond or something, and then think

Mr. Goe

So that he could finally be promoted at the end of this school year, grandma, mommy and aunty Mitsa promised to take the young Goe to Bucharest on the King's anniversary, the 10th of May. Little do we care if the three dames decide to leave their comfortable spot to