Romanian Industry Looks to Break Impasse Over Hamstrung Rebate System as Lawsuits Pile Up
Christopher Vourlias Amid a host of lawsuits by foreign productions looking to recoup money from Romania’s beleaguered cash rebate system, industry insiders say the situation has reached a crisis point, with one leading U.K. financier and executive producer warning that the government runs the risk of “obliterating foreign direct investment” into Romania if a resolution isn’t reached in the coming weeks.Nearly a dozen lawsuits are currently active in the Romanian court system, which last month ordered the government to pay roughly $642,000 plus legal fees to the producers of “The World to Come” (pictured), writer-director Mona Fastvold’s romantic frontier drama starring Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston, which filmed in Romania in 2019.