Football Ads

Two kids pass by an ad in Zurich. Business owners in Zurich have adapted to the football fever, so wherever you turn your head there's some sort of football related ads.

Zurich

A woman walks by in Zurich's shopping district.

Arrival

A plane carrying the Romanian national team pulls in on a runway in Altenrhein, Switzerland, as two fire trucks throw water on it.

First Stop: Budapest

After driving for about 10 hours, I decided along with my colleague, Mediafax reporter Andrei Mazurchievici, to stop in Budapest for the night. Found a cheap (but surprisingly nice) hostel and took a neighbourhood tour. We came across a very crowded outdoor club that had live music then dropped by a wine festival, before heading back to base.
* EtnoRom performs on stage inside Godor Klub
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* people walking in a pool of water on the glass ceiling of Godor Klub
* a man shows the effects of efficient wine tasting at the Badacsonyi Borfesztival

Euro 2008

I'm posting this minutes before jumping in my car to head out for Austria and Switzerland (1700km to go today and tomorrow), where I'll spend the next 4 weeks covering Euro 2008, the European Football Championship. For the group stage, I'll focus mostly (but not only) on Romania's national team.

I'll try to post on a regular basis.

Aromanians

A young Aromanian girls is held by her father during the celebration of the Aromanian community in Romania, Bucharest, May 23rd, 2008. Aromanians are a people who originally lived South of the Danube river, descending of Latinised natives and Roman legionaries who had settled in the Balkans. Shot with my new toy, Canon's 5D.

Florin for Esquire

Now with the upcoming Euro 2008 (that is the European Football Championship in Switzerland and Austria, for those of you who were raised thinking football is a game where you keep the ball in your hands and run with it), Esquire thought they should do something involving football. Instead of the classical big shot profile, they went for the wannabe. So here's Florin, a 15 year-old kid who works like crazy to get to be a big player one day. I followed him for a few days on his crazy daily routine (wake up call at 6 in the morning, 4.5 hours on buses back and forth between practice, high school and home).

Petrila

1.Bogdan Stamatin zipps up his jumper as the first drops of rain reach the ground, on a hill in Petrila, Saturday, May 10, 2008. His t-shirt represents the cover of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother album, realeased in 1970.
2.Men drink and play checkers in a bar.

Invincibles' Gala

About a week ago I shot a boxing event, called The Invincibles' Gala.

If Two Is a Crowd

I was on a film set a few days ago and this to me was the representation of how many things you gotta deal with as a director.

Resurrection Night

Two women walk through St. Parascheva cemetery after placing candles on funeral stones in Vatra Dornei, after a religious ceremony, the night before Easter Sunday.

Forced Landing Site

Two girls walk by an enclosed site where a propeller-driven plane had made a forced landing. No one died, though the pilot and the other occupant of the cabin were taken to the ER with some broken limbs.

Police Protest

The Police Union organized a rally followed by a march downtown Bucharest to ask for better working conditions.

Mihai

Mihai, taking a break to decide which bar to go to after rehearsals. He plays the base in a photographers' band.

Blues

Nightlosers' Hanno Hofer, playing the blues at Hard Rock Cafe, as the opening act for Louisiana Red.

Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters visited the Romanian Parliament (the second largest building in the world) today. This is Slick Willie Shaw.

Right-Wing Rally

An extreme-right group organized a rally in order to counter Hungarian National Day celebrations in Transylvania.

Railroad Strike

The National Railroad Company had a two-hour strike this morning. I went to a village early in the morning and got on a shitty train to Bucharest to make sure I was in the middle of nowhere when the strike would begin. Here's some stuff I saw from the window.

Trabant - Ode to Jero

I'm working - for Esquire - on an essay about Trabant, an old car produced in Eastern Germany, sort of like the cheaper cousin of the VW Beetle.

High Jump