BUCHAREST — Starting out as a unit production manager in Romania's film industry more than two decades ago, Ada Solomon felt she needed to punch above her weight.

But after fighting with crew on set early on in her career, Solomon, now a producer of some of Romania's most internationally renowned films, took the advice of an assistant director that she would get farther by staying calm and treating them as partners.

"It was perhaps the first lesson in movie production I ever got," Solomon told Reuters at the office of her production company, HiFilm. "Since then, this is how I've functioned with my teams."

Today, Solomon is one of Europe's leading film producers and the woman behind some of the most critically acclaimed dramas of recent years, including Berlinale winners "Child's Pose" and "Aferim!" and the Oscar-nominated "Toni Erdmann."

She is also at the forefront of an increasing number of female producers and directors working in Romania at a time when more established film industries are struggling with issues of diversity and inclusion.

The increasing role of women in Romania's film industry is being showcased at the Making Waves Romanian Film Festival taking place in New York until Dec. 5.

The former communist country has emerged as a powerhouse of cinema over the last two decades and much has been made about the Romanian New Wave, a genre of naturalistic and unflinching films that have been consistently winning top prizes such as the Palme d'Or in Cannes and awards at the Berlin and Venice festivals. — Reuters