The petition The Cultural exception is not negotiable was signed by well-known directors, producers and scriptwriters including Marian Crişan, Tudor Giurgiu, Cătălin Mitulescu, Cristian Mungiu, Radu Muntean, Călin Netzer, Corneliu Porumboiu, Cristi Puiu, Răzvan Rădulescu, Adrian Sitaru and Ada Solomon. 

“Film should be supported not only as an industry because otherwise a certain kind of cinema would disappear, including the national cinema,” Corneliu Porumboiu (Police, Adjective) told FNE, adding with his special humour, “Why shouldn’t I sign, given the kind of movies I make?”

“Cinema is a cultural product and it should stay a cultural product,”, said producer Ada Solomon, who gave a memorable speech when Child’s Pose received the Golden Bear in February 2013. “When economic censorship is more important than quality, we could say farewell to the cinema d’auteur and forget about a century of European cinema heritage. For Romania it is the same because the new Romanian cinema and its power are coming from this profound cultural dimension. If the cultural exception would disappear, the movies made by the Romanian filmmakers would be in an unethical competition with any commercial movie made with other resources and for other reasons,” Solomon told FNE. 

The National Alliance of Creators Unions, the largest federation of the professional organisations grouping art creators and performers, scheduled a meeting on 10 June 2013 in order to issue a statement in support of the cultural exception.

Laurenţiu Damian, the head of the Romanian Filmmakers Union told FNE, “It is clear that we are talking about mentalities here. If negotiation is denied things might be difficult for artists and especially for filmmakers. I knew about the lack of appetite from the US for dialogue, but I believe that the opposition coming from powerful countries such as Germany and France will make a difference. It’s not a question of help, but a question of support.”