Dragin graduated from the Academy of Theatre and Film, Bucharest in 1991 and has worked since then as a cameraman for Reuters. Due to his immediate contact with contemporary stories, Dragin headed at first towards documentaries, filming two shorts, The Sorrow of Black Gold (1994) and Burning is the Sun over Tichilești (1995). In 1995 he distinguished himself also by the short feature The Rain, which won an APTR award (The Romanian Association of Television Professionals), a Prix Italia and the Directing Award in Costinești. The first feature film for television, Long journey by train, got him several screenplay awards and the main APTR award, in 1998. His second film, Everyday God Kisses Us On The Mouth, won three directing awards and the Tiger at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. He went back there in 2011 with If the Seed doesn't Die, winning the Dioraphte award, decided by the public among the movies financed by Hubert Bals Fund. In recent years, he returned to documentary, directing along with Alina Mungiu Pippidi Where Europe Ends (2009), while a third action film, The Pharaoh (2004) was starring in the leading role one of the most impressive Romanian actors, Ștefan Iordache.
Awards
The Sorrow of Black Gold (1994, short feature, documentary)
1994, Grand Prize in Oberhausen, Germany
1994, German Ministry of Environment's award
1994, Public's special mention, Leipzig, Germany
1998, Grand Prize, Las Palmas, Canary Islands
The Rain (1995, short feature, fiction)
1996, Directing Award, Costinești, Romania
1997, Best short fiction feature; Ravenna, Italy (Prix Italia)
1998, APTR award for Best Short Feature; Bucharest, Romania
Long Journey by Train (1997, long feature, fiction)
1997, Grand European Award for TV Screenplay; Geneva, Switzerland
1998, Best Screenplay award, Vrnjacka Banja, Yugoslavia
