This year, we’ve prepared meaningful conversations in collaboration with TSV by PM Group. Every day throughout the festival, we invite you to join three captivating discussions designed to inspire and challenge your thinking.
Each meeting brings to the forefront relevant topics and diverse perspectives, along with interviews with festival artists in a relaxed and friendly setting where dialogue and the exchange of ideas are encouraged. We invite you to explore current themes, discover new perspectives, and enjoy interesting conversations as if among friends.
We’re also thrilled to share that Diana Popescu, a seasoned cultural journalist and podcast host, will be moderating the Întâlniri pe Prispă sessions.
Schedule:
Friday
16:30 – The First 10 Years with Postmodern Jukebox
Interviewed by Horia Ghibuțiu.
Horia Ghibuțiu is an independent journalist with 35 years of experience in print media. Born in 1969 in Prague, he was brought to Romania a few months later and grew up here. He entered the press in 1990, working in various roles including typesetter, editor-in-chief, project manager, and editorial director. He has led a wide range of publications, from the most influential reference daily to the newspaper with the most pages in Romanian press history, as well as glossy magazines about celebrities. In broadcasting, he has made a distinct mark through shows in which he interviewed dozens of personalities. Encouraged by a Writers’ Union debut award nomination, Horia turned towards the book industry, engaging in translations, writing prefaces, and authoring other books.
17:45 – Laughter: A Very Serious Matter
A discussion between Andreea Georgescu and Diana Popescu.
Andreea Georgescu does many things but is actually good at none. After years in the press, she founded the digital agency Webspire in 2011, and for the past 7 years, she’s been doing stand-up comedy in New York. She is a graduate of the “Comedy Writing and Performing” program supported by the American Comedy Institute in NYC. She made her stand-up debut at Gotham Comedy Club, on the same stage where George Carlin and Jerry Seinfeld also rose to fame. Since then, she has performed in dozens of comedy clubs in New York, written TV series and films, as well as a play. Now, when she’s not crafting digital campaigns for agency clients, she’s likely hosting a corporate stand-up show at one of Romania’s companies. Or she might just be thinking of a very dark joke, laughing to herself right now.
Diana Popescu is a seasoned cultural journalist who worked at the daily newspapers Adevărul and Gândul, and was the producer of the show DIGICULT on Digi24 for 7 years. She has been moderating the CRONICARI DIGITALI podcast since 2020, the same year she published her first children’s literature book: “Luna’s Adventures in the World of Twisted Words.” Her short list of priorities includes traveling the world, architecture, modern art, and gastronomy.
19:00 – The Geography of Isolation and the Archipelago of Common Points
Discussion between Radu Umbreș and Diana Popescu.
Radu Umbreș is a cognitive-evolutionary anthropologist and associate professor at SNSPA. His research explores social interactions and representations related to morality, cooperation, (dis)trust, and seemingly irrational beliefs. He published “Living with Distrust,” an ethnography of a Romanian village, with Oxford University Press, translated and published by Humanitas under the title “Distrust: How Deep Romania Works.” Besides his academic work, he is involved in scientific communication and applied social research projects.
Saturday
15:30 – Getting it Back: CYMANDE
Interviewed by Horia Ghibuțiu.
17:00 – Things We Can’t Overlook: How Do We Manage the “Institution” of Intransigence?
A conversation between two friends: Răzvan Exarhu and Diana Popescu.
Răzvan Exarhu is known as a radio and TV producer and presenter, as well as a journalist and author. We listen to him every morning on Morning Glory on Rock FM, a show that makes us laugh and reflect at the same time. With his relaxed style and unique perspective, Răzvan talks about the day’s topics in a way that challenges us to see things differently. In addition to current events, Răzvan discusses subjects he is passionate about, such as music, gastronomy, and various personal experiences. Morning Glory is essentially a reflection of Răzvan’s personality – a delightful mix of intelligence, humor, and nonconformism, offering us not just entertainment but also moments of reflection on the world around us. Răzvan Exarhu even stated on his show that Jazz in the Park is his favorite festival.
18:30 – Art in Mixed Doubles, on an International Shuttle
Interview with Carmen Lidia Vidu & Julien Javions, moderated by Diana Popescu.
Carmen Lidia Vidu looks around and seeks out stories, people, and histories with a small “h,” which she brings to her theater and film audience in artistic forms that generate emotion. Carmen Lidia Vidu is the first director in Romania to win both the GOPO Award for film and the UNITER Award for theater. She received the latter in 2021 for directing the play “Romania Journal. 1989,” about the capital “H” history of the Revolution, and the former in 2015 with the film “A Short History of Astra Film.” Since 2017, she has been collaborating with the George Enescu Festival as a multimedia director. In 2021, she became (only) the third female director in Romanian theater history after the Revolution to win a UNITER Award. Online, she is a strong feminist voice, an opinion leader who speaks about socio-political, cultural, and civic themes, as well as the authentic people and places she discovers in her documentaries.
Julien Javions is a French actor, director, and acting coach. In the latest edition of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest, he was responsible for the Managing Talent program dedicated to professional actors. Since then, in Romania, he has continued to intensify film preparation sessions for Romanian actors and organize public screenings to contribute to the promotion and visibility of actors.
Sunday
15:30 – From Yerevan to New York: A Super Story with Tigran Hamasyan
Interview moderated by Horia Ghibuțiu.
17:00 – Cultural Entrepreneurship – Friendship, Competition, Extreme Sports
Our friend Andi Daiszler, in conversation with Diana Popescu.
Cultural manager, communicator, activist focused on local urban development, founder of events like Lights On Romania and Strada Potaissa, Andi Daiszler has a background in journalism and marketing, having previously been the marketing manager of Daisler Print House, a family business. He is the creator of the most famous light installation produced in Romania in the last 30 years, the famous “MI-E DOR DE TINE,” which has been exhibited in central spaces in London, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Cologne, metropolises that serve as homes for a large part of the Romanian diaspora. He is the first Romanian elected as a board member of the International Association of Light Festival Organizers (ILO), where he leads the working group dedicated to sustainability. Passionate about sustainable ways to bring people together for constructive dialogue, Andi is an eternal optimist and admirer of events that innovate and truly contribute to the community, like Jazz in the Park.
18:30 – What Does Theater “Sound” Like? A Directorial, Personal, and Extremely Musical Perspective
Gabriel Sandu, interviewed by Diana Popescu.
Gabriel Sandu is a multidisciplinary artist – playwright and theater director, screenwriter, and film director. In just five years since staging his first play, Uitasem (POINT HUB, 2019), he has managed, with each new premiere on stage and screens, to become an artist with whom people can identify. His freedom of thought and rebellion against fitting into a classic production system have surprisingly opened doors for him to tell stories in his own way.
After a series of plays that resonated in the theatrical world – Dușmănie V2.0. There’s Something Healing About Giving People an Object of Their Hatred (Teatrelli, 2021), LUX (Regina Maria Theater, Oradea, 2022), Trauma Kink (Romanian Playwrights’ Theater, 2022) – two more premieres followed: 10 Things I Lost at Mamaia Festival (State Theater Constanța, 2023) and Adrenaline (Excelsior Theater, 2024), which sparked even more waves of discussion and interest for a unique theatrical style, blending poetry, humor, fiction, and realism.
There will be 3 days full of captivating and inspirational discussions, bringing together diverse perspectives and remarkable personalities whom we truly admire, and we’re certain you will enjoy as well.
