Discoveries from Romania World Cinema

Damian and Alex are perfect people, with jobs, cars and a healthy diet. However they try to deal with obsession: one for people-watching, one for each other.

Costel and his family move around from the squats of Marseille to the centre of Lausanne passing through the village of Manarade, Romania, trying to find a way to earn their living. The woman making the film uses black and white Super 8. Costel films his family in colour video. They swap images and sounds, and are both witnesses and actors of a daily life made up of stratagems for getting by, beliefs and survival.

A journalist in a Bucharest publication, is the accidental witness of the street arrest of a communist. It intervenes in the defense of the young man, who manages to escape, and is arrested. He is obliged to look for the missing woman.

Petru and Iosif spend the night in a countryside cabin, where, between YouTube tutorials on milking cows and homemade wine, they begin to test the boundaries of their friendship.

42-year-old Elena has big dreams. The beating heart of her remote Moldovan village, she organises community clean-ups, supports lonely elders, and each year dons a Santa Claus costume to bring joy to her neighbours. But beneath the suit, Elena is driven by ambition and a desire to shake things up. Her dream? To become mayor.

On a lazy summer afternoon family road trip, a 10-year-old boy lays on the backseat of the car and drifts away in a daydream. He envisions a rivalry with a gang of feral kids, a fight for supremacy in the shape of a football. His reverie soon surpasses the unpredictable reality and continues even after death.

Documentary about the golden generation of Romanian football and its achievements, especially at the 1994 world cup.

A dinner in the backyard. Albert and Laura try to communicate their thoughts regarding the inevitable divorce. Their daughter comes in a flash and surprises her parents in a portrait of a perfect family. How are they going to tell her about the separation?

A pandemic love story between the last two people on Earth and their reluctance to repopulate.

A story of absolute survival: when the struggle for life turns into thirst for power and becomes tyranny. The film shows the unlikely path followed by the young Nicolae Ceaușescu, supported by his life partner Elena, from an apprenticeship in a shoemaker to the head of a political regime criminal.

1968 Animation by Sabin Balasa

To get the required daily medication for his mother, Victor and his father resort to the toughest and dangerous solution.

A man followed by mistake by a mysterious gang revisits, while on the run, important moments and people from his life up to that moment.

This film is about the changes in the countryside happening in Romania around 1945, when am agrarian reform happens.

A detective tries to come to terms with himself, but the past refuses to let him.

Six-year-old Alma won’t accept her Grandpa’s endless sleep, so she takes him out for one last adventure together.

When two Sri Lankan bakers arrive in the Székely village of Ditrău, Romania, their presence ignites local unrest and accusations of racism. Through the unfolding community debate, 5000 KM exposes how fear and identity collide in a small, isolated world.

Monica, a ballerina who had to pause her career due to a leg injury, becomes the muse of Victor, a sculptor in the midst of a creative crisis. Their relationship is put to the test when Monica returns to dancing.

"In a world where the dead walk, survival isn’t the hardest part — it’s the choices you have to live with." Set in post-apocalyptic Germany, The Only Way follows three survivors — two brothers and a loyal friend — as they navigate a world consumed by the undead. When faced with an unthinkable decision, how far would you go for the people you love?

An animation about the Bucharest Printers' Strike that took place in December 1918.

A small prehistoric amphibian goes on a journey with the goal of finding its mate.

An introduction in judicial ballistics and the ways of interpreting and analysing marks, ammunitions and weapons used in judiciary analysed cases.

This film consists of almost twenty minutes coverage of a political rally, filmed by more than ten Sahia cameramen, during the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of 23 August 1944, ‘the first day of the socialist era’. The Hottest Day is part of a rich author filmography, which includes around one hundred titles, such as A Life Dedicated to the Happiness of the People (1978); Homage (1983); The Party, The Homeland, The People (1986); Heroic Times in Legendary Lands (1987). When the Sahia documentaries obediently followed their political commission, their length could surpass the usual ten to twenty minutes, even reaching feature length. The Hottest Day was one of the shortest film in this category that we could find in the archives.

A woman’s journey towards liberation and healing through recollections of her younger self.

Part of the series made at "Alexandru Sahia" Studios.

A tale from the 16th century narrates the story of Ursula, a female figure disguised as a man, who successfully chased away occupying intruders (at that time, the Ottomans) using the supersonic sound of a whip. This account purportedly originated in Cincu, the Transylvanian village which today houses one of N.A.T.O.’s key combat training zones in Romania.

Videoclip for a song sung by Romanian singer Loredana.

The revolution of 1848 awakens the European nations. In Transylvania, Romanians gather around Avram Iancu, a 24-year-old lawyer who becomes the military leader who leads the armed resistance.

Chivu's lonely, isolated life is about to be changed when a distant acquaintance arrives at his door with a strange business proposal.

His story, everyone story.

Freshly gotten out of prison, Bâtfoi wants to take his normal life back, by taking it step by step. He starts repairing engines through the village to earn a living in the most honest way and gets on by asking for forgiveness to his deceased father by taking care of his tomb and even plans to marry Alina, his girlfriend. This is where things start to get complicated.

In close proximity, through slow movements of the camera, the eye becomes an unknown organic planet floating in black space. The delicate double exposure does not disturb the clarity of its patient, strictly black-and-white gaze, which works its way through hairs and eyelashes, through pores and wrinkles, crevices, and craters.

In a rural community full of religious certainty, right on the place where God came, young shepherd Lucian seems to be stranded between belief and disbelief.

An immigrant from Romania tries to give life to his picturesque puppet on the streets of a Swiss city, a job that represents his livelihood, but will have to embark on a bureaucratic adventure to achieve it.

A lost monarchy is represented by a princess whose steadfast mission is to restore to her dynasty real political and economic responsibility in contemporary Romania. With great energy, sometimes funny slips, too, but mostly with the appropriate royalist seriousness, Princess Margareta of Romania plays her role as the subject and object of her own campaign. The performance is of the tale of new wine in old wineskins. Surrounded by her courtly entourage, Margareta travels through “her” country in the same old royal train, on the same royal route, in which her father, King Michael the First already sought contact with his subjects. It goes without saying that the red carpet as the most obvious symbol of monarchist grandeur must be immaculate even at the tiniest stop – though this isn’t always achieved perfectly.

In 2007, Cristian Mungiu's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" became the first Romanian film to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes. At this time, there were fewer than 50 cinemas in Romania, so it was arranged for a 35mm print to be taken on a tour of the provinces to provide people with an opportunity to see the landmark film. This short documentary explores the logistical challenges of the tour and includes interviews with the projectionists and audience members.

The story of a love triangle, in which a romanian and a hungarian love the same woman. Happening during WWII, the two hate each other. The movie was banned shortly after the release.

A fantastic short documentary that explores an event that is staged in a cave in one of the oldest forests in Romania. The premise of the film - that people are bored and need something to do or perform is beside the point - there are people in Romania who will move an entire orchestra into a cave in the forest and thousands of people will arrive to watch a classical performance there. Breathtaking and fun at the same time.

A derelict coal mine, a tramway depot, a small ready-made clothing workshop of a former fashion house, a dairy factory, and a world of women who lived their youth in communism.

An abbot establishes a monastery on a disused airfield in the southern Romanian plains. He proves to be just as knowledgeable about strategic issues of national security as he is about ecclesiastical matters. But things don't turn out to be quite so spiritual on God's runway after all.

In the aftermath of a hunting expedition gone wrong, three men must reconsider their friendship, revealing each other’s strange and twisted secrets.

After murdering his friend due to his betrayal, Brutus begins a downward spiral in order to confront his memories of the past.

This urgent documentary uncovers the real-life, long-term impact of cyber violence and online sexual abuse and how it reshapes lives, communities and our entire digital culture.