VIRTUAL CINEMA: ''The Romanians''
←
Luxury Hotel
October 20, 2019
An ambitious young manager attempts to refresh the stale ambiance of a restaurant inside a luxury hotel, only to find his initiatives questioned by the boss of the establishment. Punished for his daring, he is downgraded from the higher floors where the privileged live to the very basement of the Kafkaesque building and has to face treachery and deceit that prevent him from leading a normal life. A Silver Lion winner at the 1992 Venice Festival, this visual feast is a curious allegory about living in a totalitarian regime, in which the main character is Ceaușescu’s pharaonic palace and the heaviest building in the world, ironically called The People’s House. "Highly recommended for fans of dystopian social satire.” - J.B. Spins

Read More ⟶
Videograms of a Revolution
September 28, 2019
For Videograms of a Revolution, Andrei Ujică and Harun Farocki collected amateur video and material broadcast by Romanian state television after it was taken over by demonstrators in December 1989. The audio and video represent the first revolution in which television played a major role. The film’s protagonist is contemporary history itself.
"By the end of the week, and the Ceausescus’ executions, nothing is real – or historical – until it is seen on television.” – Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice

Director Andrei Ujica in person (Film Forum, Nov 15, 6:30 pm / BAMPFA, Feb 12)

Read More ⟶
Do Not Lean Out the Window
October 20, 2019
If any film can be said to bridge the gap between Romanian cinema prior to 1989 and today, it’s Nae Caranfil’s Don’t Lean Out the Window, a wry look at the final years of communism. The film follows the stories of two young men and a woman – humorously labeled The Student, The Actor and The Soldier – and then intertwines them, charting their journeys in a system that’s collapsing around them. In the course of the film, the three switch roles, the actor becoming a soldier of sorts while the student learns the value of acting. Unlike many other Romanian films of the era, Don’t Lean Out the Window refused to engage in the polemic that emerged with the fall of communism. Its protagonists are nuanced, complex characters, who’ve learned to survive and even thrive in an environment that often bred hypocrisy in even the simplest of social exchanges.

Read More ⟶
The State of Things
October 20, 2019
Stere Gulea’s film seems intent on revealing life’s tragic paradoxes and sad ironies as reflected in recent Romanian history. It is December 21, 1989 and a severely wounded teenager shows up in the middle of the night at the front door of a young nurse. She takes him to a hospital where her fiancé works, only to find the teenager in the hospital’s morgue the following morning, shot in the head. In the chaos that ensues, the couple is pressured into providing fake documents that would absolve the secret police of being responsible for his death, as well as many others. The woman refuses to collaborate and thus her nightmare begins: She is arrested and convicted on a trumped-up charge, and is consequently humiliated, beaten and raped in prison. Her only comfort remains the child she is carrying.

Read More ⟶
Stuff and Dough
October 24, 2019
The “stuff” in this debut feature by The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu and Sieranevada director Cristi Puiu – one of the pioneers of the post-Ceauşescu Romanian filmmaking renaissance – is a satchel full of black-market prescription drugs. The “dough” is 2,000 lei (around $500) promised to small-town teen Ovidiu (Alexandru Papadopol) if he agrees to carry the package to Bucharest on behalf of a local gangster (Răzvan Vasilescu). He does, inviting his slacker friend Vali (Dragoş Bucur) along for the ride, who in turn invites his apathetic girlfriend Bety (Ioana Flora). This unlikely trio then takes to the highway – the hilariously deadpan road movie that results is a reminder that Puiu, who originally had ambitions of becoming a visual artist, has cited a viewing of Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law as a key event in his decision to pursue filmmaking.

Read More ⟶
Niki and Flo
October 24, 2019
A very black comedy, Niki and Flo is about ill-suited neighbors united by marriage. Angela and her husband have decided to leave Romania for a better life in the United States. Niki, Angela's father, a former colonel in the Romanian army, is torn between his wish to see his daughter happy and his desire to have her remain nearby. Meanwhile Flo, the father of Angela’s husband and a domestic tyrant of sorts, slowly exerts his control over Niki. The screenplay was written by Cristi Puiu and Răzvan Rădulescu, who collaborated on Stuff and Dough and The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu. “A mordant almost-comedy that represents a bridge — and also a battle — between the old Romania and the new [...] its observant naturalism infused with a delicate, almost coy sense of the absurd" – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Read More ⟶
The Great Communist Bank Robbery
October 24, 2019
An unusual robbery at the Romanian National Bank in 1959 triggered a massive police search, and an even more unusual outcome. When the alleged burglars were caught and arrested, they reenacted their crime for a TV movie film in which they played themselves. Although evidence suggests the criminals believed they would be spared the death sentence by appearing in the film, the reality was different. Described by director Alexandru Solomon as a “political detective story,” this documentary investigates both a historical mystery and the transformation of history into film.

Read More ⟶
The Death of Mr Lăzărescu
October 24, 2019
The film that, for many people, signaled the emergence of the new Romanian cinema, Cristi Puiu’s second feature was a revelation at Cannes 2005, where it took top prize in the Un Certain Regard section. A sardonic, darkly humorous, compulsively vibrant feature, The Death of Mr Lăzărescu seems so realistic and convincing, unfolding as though in real time, that it’s hard to believe it was acted. As it follows an ailing retired engineer, too fond of booze, who gets carted from one overtaxed Bucharest hospital to another in search of proper medical care, a whole stressed society is laid bare: Each doctor, nurse, paramedic and patient leaps into view with individuality and articulate self-defensiveness. Compassion and indifference clash, often within the same person. The fluid, mobile camera recalls the great works of Fred Wiseman and John Cassavetes.

Read More ⟶
The Way I Spent the End of the World
October 24, 2019
Bucharest 1989: the last year of Ceauşescu’s dictatorship. Eva lives with her parents and her seven-year-old brother Lalalilu. She is 17 years old, very attractive and caught up in the turmoil of falling in love for the first time while struggling to come of age. Eva has a secret dream she shares only with her brother: escaping from Romania and traveling the world. Along with his best friends from school, Lalalilu devises a plan to kill the dictator so that Eva can stay and live in a free country. The Way I Spent the End of the World opened in Cannes 2006, in the Un Certain Regard section, with Dorotheea Petre winning the Special Jury Award for Best Actress.

Read More ⟶
Crulic – the Path to Beyond
October 25, 2019
This chilling documentary is “narrated” by Claudiu Crulic, a young Romanian in Poland who was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, only to become a pawn in a Kafkaesque miscarriage of justice that resulted in his death from a hunger strike. Combining innovative hand-drawn, cutout and collage animation techniques, director Anca Damian crafts a devastating portrait of a man who stood up to an uncaring bureaucracy – and paid the ultimate price

Read More ⟶
Domestic
October 25, 2019
There’s a tender and humorous touch to this light collection of tales about people who eat the animals they love, and the animals that love people unconditionally. A rabbit, a cat, a dog, a hen, and a pigeon share screen time with a wonderful ensemble of actors playing the residents of an apartment building, revealing the very small distance that separates humans from animals. Despite a certain cruelty or disdain for the creatures in question, the eventual love one finds in an animal companion is wonderful to witness in Adrian Sitaru’s masterfully written and choreographed film.

Read More ⟶
Of Snails and Men
October 25, 2019
A group of desperate workers come up with the unusual idea of donating sperm in order to save their car factory from bankruptcy and, consequently, from being privatized. The official line is that French investors plan to take over the plant and convert it into a snail cannery. But the stark truth is that they will just sell off the heavy machinery and disappear. This Full Monty-like bittersweet comedy is based on a true story from Romania in the 1990s, fresh from overthrowing Ceauşescu’s regime, when Romanians thought that anything was possible.

Director Tudor Giurgiu and actor Andi Vasluianu in person (Film Forum, Nov 23, 2019)

Read More ⟶
Aferim!
October 25, 2019
“Shot in richly toned, wide-screen black and white, Aferim! looks like an elegant exercise in period playacting. But it casts a fierce, revisionist eye on the past, finding the cruelty and prejudice that lie beneath the pageantry.” - The New York Times. Radu Jude’s international breakthrough is a picaresque odyssey through 19th-century Romania, which tackles one of the most shameful episodes in the country’s history: the enslavement of the Roma people. As a bounty hunter and his son scour the mountains for a fugitive slave, they are thrown into a series of encounters by turns scathingly funny or utterly horrifying. Stunningly shot in glimmering, widescreen black and white, Aferim! plays like a classic western spring-loaded with cutting social commentary.

Read More ⟶
Pororoca
October 25, 2019
“This is muscular hard-art fare that… could propel Popescu into the upper ranks of his country’s auteurs.” - Variety It is every loving parent’s worst nightmare: the devastating disappearance of a beloved child, and then their desperate struggle to stay sane while trying to save their marriage. The long scene in which the little girl goes missing in a park full of people is a movie in itself, masterfully staged by Constantin Popescu (Tales from the Golden Age), and challenges us to pinpoint the exact moment when everything goes wrong. It makes for intense viewing that is only more visceral thanks to Bogdan Dumitrache’s raw performance playing the father consumed with obsession and guilt.

Director Constantin Popescu in person

Read More ⟶
→


In The News
←
The list of films NOW STREAMING
May 15, 2020
With the current pandemic closing cinemas all over the world, the U.S. Tour of the retrospective is on hold. But we bring you now many of the series titles on VOD. Making Waves proudly presents a 15-film selection of the retrospective, with some of these titles available for the first time online for wider U.S. audience. Find below the full list of films that are now streaming.

Read More ⟶
Launching in the US: THE STATE OF THINGS & LUXURY HOTEL
June 27, 2020
We are launching today two new award-winning films from early 1990s, little known in the U.S. Though very much of their time, these examinations of revolution, social conviction, immorality and autocracy feel particularly relevant today.

Read More ⟶
STUFF AND DOUGH now streaming worldwide
June 6, 2020
June 5, 2020 - Cristi Puiu's groundbreaking debut film becomes available for streaming in the U.S. and can now be rented or purchased worldwide. It is also featured in the Virtual Cinema selection of Film Forum New York and Lightbox Film Center in Philadelphia.

Read More ⟶
Streaming in Canada & U.S.: DO NOT LEAN OUT THE WINDOW
May 29, 2020
May 29, 2020 - If any film can be said to bridge the gap between Romanian cinema prior to 1989 and today, it’s Do Not Lean Out the Window (E pericoloso sporgersi), Nae Caranfil’s wry look at the final years of communism.

Read More ⟶
VIDEOGRAMS OF A REVOLUTION opens today in the US!
May 29, 2020
May 29, 2020 - Starting today, Andrei Ujică and Harun Farocki's landmark VIDEOGRAMS OF A REVOLUTION becomes for the first time available for streaming in the U.S. and internationally.

Read More ⟶
You can now watch “The Romanians” online!
May 15, 2020
Making Waves is now taking place online and has made a 13-film selection of the retrospective available for streaming in the U.S., with many of these titles available for the first time online for wider U.S. audiences. See the selection NOW STREAMING and upcoming.

Read More ⟶
Support Making Waves Film Festival in times of Coronavirus
April 2, 2020
Making Waves had to postpone all the tour`s screenings scheduled in different US cities. We appreciate your support and your understanding as we try to protect each other and to overcome these uncertain times. If you would like to make a donation to help Making Waves survive, we would be extraordinarily grateful.

Read More ⟶
“The Romanians on U.S. Tour” is currently postponed
March 11, 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Romanians on U.S. Tour” had to postpone its screenings scheduled in cinemas. Making Waves festival team together with their partners decided to postpone the following screenings of the tour until further notice.

Read More ⟶
7 films of THE ROMANIANS presented in Philadelphia, PA
February 9, 2020
The program of the Retrospective running March 12 - 27, 2020 at the Lightbox Film Center is now available.  Audiences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania can find the full schedule and buy tickets for the event on our website or Lightbox Film Center`s website.

Read More ⟶
See Andrei Ujică`s trilogy @BAMPFA in Berkeley, CA
February 7, 2020
Director Andrei Ujică joined Making Waves 14 at Film Forum in New York last autumn. The tour of the Retrospective presents two screenings of his trilogy: Videograms of a Revolution & The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu on February 12 and February 16, at BAMPFA Berkeley, California.

Read More ⟶
The 2019 New Releases ran December 5-10
January 29, 2020
Complementing the 30-year retrospective, Making Waves returned at the Jacob Burns Film Center from December 5-10, 2019 with the traditional panorama of the best new releases of the year.

Read More ⟶
MO’ star Dana Rogoz & director Radu Dragomir @ JBFC
December 4, 2019
Presenting his debut film in the U.S. Premiere, director Radu Dragomir will join Making Waves/New Releases at Jacob Burns Film Center on December 7, 7:30 p.m. for the screening of MO. Title character of the film, beloved actress Dana Rogoz will also be present there for the Q&A session. 

Read More ⟶
THE WHISTLERS’ star Rodica Lazăr @ JBFC
November 29, 2019
A mainstay of many of the New Wave films (from The Death of Mr Lazarescu to Principles of Life, The Last Day, or Ramona), actress Rodica Lazăr will join the Making Waves/New Releases opening night screening of The Whistlers on December 5 at the Jacob Burns Film Center for a Q&A session.

Read More ⟶
Constantin Popescu wraps up @ Film Forum
November 22, 2019
Director Constantin Popescu will join us for the closing screening of "The Romanians" at Film Forum with his visceral Pororoca, followed by a Q&A moderated by Richard Peña (Tuesday, November 26, 8:00 pm). Don't miss also his contribution to the Tales from the Golden Age omnibus, the Pig segment, playing Saturday, November 23.

Read More ⟶
Director Tudor Giurgiu at MW2019
October 24, 2019
One of the oldest friends of Making Waves, director Tudor Giurgiu will be coming to New York for the screening of his 2012 film Of Snails and Men on November 23. Parking, his fourth feature, is also being featured in this year's New Releases program.

Read More ⟶
Actor Andi Vasluianu joins the Retrospective
October 24, 2019
One of the most prolific and talented actors of his generation, Andi Vasluianu joins  us at Film Forum for the presentation of two titles in the retrospective: Cristian Nemescu's California Dreamin' (Endless) on Thu, November 21, and Of Snails and Men by Tudor Giurgiu, who will also be in New York for the screening (Sat, November 23).

Read More ⟶
Legendary Film Forum joins Making Waves
October 25, 2019
Legendary NYC film institution, Film Forum has joined the 14th edition of Making Waves to co-present the largest program dedicated to Romanian cinema presented in the U.S. to date: THE ROMANIANS: 30 YEARS OF CINEMA REVOLUTION, a 12 day, 30-film series celebrating three decades of post-Ceausescu cinema, from November 15-26, 2019.

Read More ⟶
Making Waves receives the support of TMU and other donors
October 24, 2019
The 14th edition of Making Waves is made possible with the support of the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Romanian Filmmakers Union, Dacin Sara, the Romanian National Film Center, Blue Heron Foundation and numerous individual donors.

Read More ⟶
Making Waves Celebrates 30 Years of New Romanian Cinema with U.S. Tour
January 29, 2020
Making Waves has launched a nationwide tour of The Romanians: 30 Years of Cinema Revolution. A selection of the program will tour throughout the U.S. through May 2020, beginning at the University of California at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA).

Read More ⟶
→


''The Romanians'' On Tour
←
→


Become a leading part of the festival
←
→


''The Romanians'': Directors
←
Lucian Pintilie
November 2, 2019
One of Europe's finest filmmakers, Lucian Pintilie's work has explored questions of tyranny and remorse—often relating directly or allegorically to the history of his own country. His work also evokes the remembrance of the tolerant and cosmopolitan nature of his hometown, a German village within Southern Bessarabia which he describes as a halcyon polyglot and multicultural community, a key detail which has informed his body of work. He fled Romania in the 70s, and returned to his home country following the end of communism, and then made extraordinary films about life and its absurdities, beginning with The Oak (1992) and continuing with such acclaimed films as Afternoon of a Torturer (2001) and Niki and Flo (2003), "a mordant almost-comedy that represents a bridge—and also a battle—between the old Romania and the new." (A. O. Scott, The New York Times)

Read More ⟶
Andrei Ujică
November 10, 2019
Andrei Ujică (b. 1951) is a Romanian screenwriter and director known for his subversive non-fictional films. He studied literature before making films, and moved to Germany in 1981. In 1990, together with Harun Farocki, he created Videograms of a Revolution, a powerful film about the relationship between political power and the media. Les Cahiers du Cinema listed it as one of the top 10 subversive films of all time. Videograms was the first part of a trilogy about the end of communism, which continued with Out of the Present (1995), the story of the cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov, who spent 10 months on board of the MIR space station, while back on Earth, the Soviet Union was collapsing. In 2010, The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu was selected at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, ending the trilogy with a brilliant and radical reflection on history and memory. Since 2001, Ujicǎ is a professor at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. He founded the ZKM Film Institute in 2002.

Read More ⟶
Cristian Mungiu
November 10, 2019
A prominent figure of the New Romanian Cinema, Cristian Mungiu (b. 1968) is the only Romanian filmmaker awarded the Palme d’Or for feature film in Cannes. In 2007, his second feature, 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days sky-rocketed his career, receiving several awards and being voted best film of the year by various international associations. Mungiu was already familiar with Cannes; his debut feature Occident premiered in Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in 2002. He returned to Cannes in 2009 as a writer-producer-co-director with the collective episodic film Tales from the Golden Age and as a writer-director in 2012 with Beyond the Hills – double awarded for Best Screenplay and Best actresses (Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur). His fifth film, Graduation, was also selected at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Read More ⟶
Constantin Popescu
November 10, 2019
Before deciding to embark on filmmaking, Constantin Popescu (b. 1973) worked as a translator, a production assistant and an assistant director. In 2014, he started to direct a series of well-received short films: The Apartment was the first, followed by A Lineman’s Cabin (2005), Water (2006) and The Yellow Smiley Face (2008). He also directed the Pig segment in the Tales from the Golden Age omnibus. His debut feature, The Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man (2009), told the real story of young man resisting the communist regime in Romania, around 1950. Principles of Life, his second feature film, premiered in 2010 at the San Sebastian Film Festival, as well as his third, the visceral Pororoca, seven years later. Bogdan Dumitrache won the Best Actor award at San Sebastian for taking on the role of a father overcome by grief when his child dissapears.

Read More ⟶
Adrian Sitaru
November 10, 2019
Adrian Sitaru (b. 1971) made himself known when his short film Waves won the Leopards of Tomorrow section of the 2007 Locarno IFF. Many festival selections and awards followed, earning him the reputation of a filmmaker who explores the domestic life with great sense of humor and affection. Some of his other short films made a career: The Cage (2009), Lord (2009), House Party (2012), Art (2014). His feature films also toured the world through festivals, starting with Hooked (2008), selected in Venice Days at the Venice IFF and Toronto. Other four features followed: Best Intentions (2001), Domestic (2013), Illegitimate (2013), and The Fixer (2016).

Read More ⟶
Tudor Giurgiu
November 10, 2019
Tudor Giurgiu (b. 1972) is a producer, director and scriptwriter. Founder and President of the Transilvania International Film Festival, and initiator of the Gopo Awards – Romania’s national film awards. He founded the production company Libra Film Productions, and the film distribution company Transilvania Film. His first feature, Love Sick, was screened in the Panorma section of the Berlinale in 2006 and received numerous international awards. His second feature, Of Snails and Men, enjoyed local success – the largest number of entries in Romanian cinemas in 2012. Why Me?, his third film, a thriller based on a real corruption case, premiered at Berlinale in 2015. Parking, his fourth feature, is a love story filmed in Spain, with an impressive Spanish cast. His short film Superman, Spiderman or Batman (2012) won best short film at the European Film Awards, among many others.

Read More ⟶
→


Critics’ Corner
←
Cine-File: A new review of Nae Caranfil`s film (available online)
June 23, 2020
"DO NOT LEAN OUT THE WINDOW is a boisterous film that looks at the seismic shift in Romanian society with the cautious joy of a caged animal set free. It is a crucial precursor to the revelatory Romanian New Wave that should not be missed."

Read More ⟶
NY Times: Film Series to Catch in N.Y.C. 
November 20, 2019
"In Romania, the democratic reforms that followed the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 also turned the country into a global filmmaking powerhouse, culminating in what has been called the Romanian New Wave."

Read More ⟶
NYRB: J. Hoberman recommends
October 30, 2019
"These thirty films also include some of the best made anywhere during the past three decades."

Read More ⟶
MW public – Andrei Codrescu: “In Praise of New Romanian Film”
December 7, 2019
The New Wave festival returns to New York every year with astonishing new films, alongside a well-curated archive. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Read More ⟶
J.B. Spins: “Luxury Hotel” – For fans of dystopian social satire
November 20, 2019
"Luxury Hotel could have probably only been produced during the immediate post-Ceausescu aftermath, when the palace was available, in all its faded grandeur. It is definitely spectacle, but serious, distinctively pointed spectacle."

Read More ⟶
Screenslate: “The Autobiography of N. Ceaușescu”- conceived as a flashback
November 20, 2019
"And now it is our turn, all these decades later, to be the ones to look and learn."

Read More ⟶
J.B. Spins: “The Oak” – Deeply compelling cinema
November 20, 2019
"The Oak is a defiantly bold, chaotically head-spinning indictment of Ceausescu Socialism, but it is also deeply compelling cinema. This is definitely auteurist cinema from Pintilie that still connects on a profoundly human level."

Read More ⟶
The Criterion Collection: Romanians… in America
November 20, 2019
"Film Forum will be showcasing thirty Romanian films made during the thirty years since the overthrow and execution of iron-fisted dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu."

Read More ⟶
Film Comment
October 20, 2019
„The Romanian New Wave shows no signs of waning, with steady input from such directors as Corneliu Porumboiu, Cristi Puiu, and Cristian Mungiu."

Read More ⟶
Reuters
October 20, 2019
„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.”

Read More ⟶
The New York Times
October 20, 2019
„In the last decade, the emergence of a Romanian new wave has been one of the most startling developments in world cinema, with one film after another winning prizes at Cannes and elsewhere.”

Read More ⟶
The Wall Street Journal
October 20, 2019
"Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema, the annual weeklong survey that has helped define and establish the southeastern European country as a stronghold of socially incisive, independently minded personal cinema.”

Read More ⟶
The Wall Street Journal
October 20, 2019
„Romania cinema has gradually become a central component of international film culture."

Read More ⟶
→


Sneak Peek


Team
←
→

Follow Us
←
→

Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema is the longstanding Romanian Film Festival in New York. Initiated and presented by Film ETC Association, in partnership with leading US organizations, including Film Forum (since 2109), BAM (since 2017), the Jacob Burns Film Center (since 2013), or the Film Society of Lincoln Center (2011-2015).

 

MakingWaves © 2012-2020

 

↑