Romania’s autumn cinema calendar offers expected pickings

After incredible news about the Romanian movies which went under the critics’ eyes at the international film festivals in the past few months, the acclaimed movies will be screened in the Romanian cinemas this fall. So it’s time to roll out the red carpet and dive in.

September 9 – Sieranevada, directed by Cristi Puiu

Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada was chosen to represent Romania in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the upcoming Academy Awards, scheduled for 26 February 2017. The film premiered on 12 May at the Cannes Film Festival. Sieranevada is Puiu’s fourth feature length and stars Mimi Branescu, Dana Dogaru, Ana Ciontea, Judith State, Sorin Medeleni, Marin Grigore, Rolando Matsangos, Catalina Moga and Ilona Brezoianu.

The synopsis of the 2016 family drama reads: “three days after the terrorist attack on the offices of Parisian weekly Charlie Hebdo and forty days after the death of his father, Lary, a doctor in his forties is about to spend the Saturday at a family gathering to commemorate the deceased. But the occasion does not go according to expectations. Forced to confront his fears and his past, to rethink the place he holds within the family, Lary finds himself constraint to tell his version of the truth.”

September 16 – #Selfie69, directed by Cristina Iacob

Cristina Iacob will return with another Selfie story, this time following Roxi, Ana and Yasmine as they hold a wager: the first one who manages to get married in three days will receive everything her two friends have, from clothes and mobile phones to pets and books.

September 23 – Dogs, directed by Bogdan Mirica

The first long-featured film by Romanian director Bogdan Mirica, Dogs / Câini, was released during Cannes Film Festival, from where they returned with the FIPRESCI award. Dogs is the story of Roman who returns to the land near the border with Ukraine he has just inherited from his grandfather. Fully decided to sell this vast but desolate property, he is warned by the local cop that his grandfather was a local crime lord and his men will not let go of the land – and their smuggling business – without a fight. The main roles are played by Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov and Gheorghe Visu, while Romanian actors Teodor Corban, Raluca Aprodu, Costel Cascaval and Constantin Cojocaru can also be seen on the silver screen.

“Dogs is a rural police movie and an existential thriller, but also an anti-Western from the Balkans – a Molotov cocktail of genres, original and unpredictable, exploding nonchalantly in the garden of the New Wave. Probably the best Romanian debut since 12:08 East of Bucharest/ A fost sau n-a fost?,” describes it Mihai Chirilov, the artistic director of TIFF.

October 7 – Two lottery tickets, directed by Paul Negoescu

Dinel, Sile and Pompiliu, three men from a provincial town, win the big lottery prize, but very soon the lottery ticket gets lost, so the three characters start a journey to recover it. This comedy stares Dorian Boguță, Dragos Bucur and Alexandru Papadopol.