Renowned director Cristi Puiu, often credited with founding the New Romanian Cinema, will be the special guest at the 10th edition of Romanian Film Days in Chisinau. The event will be held from September 26 to 29 at the Cineplex-Loteanu Cinema.
At this anniversary edition, Romanian Film Days (RFD) will premiere Cristi Puiu’s latest film, MMXX (2023), in the Republic of Moldova. The film competed in the San Sebastian International Film Festival. RFD will also honor the acclaimed director with a special Focus section, featuring his debut film Stuff and Dough (2001), which the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes selected, and The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), winner of the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes.
The Romanian-Moldovan co-production MMXX presents four brief moments in time that capture the struggles of souls at the crossroads of history. A young therapist, visibly distracted for unknown reasons, gradually becomes entangled in the questionnaire her client is supposed to fill out. Her younger brother, worried about preparations for his birthday and unaware of how unreasonable his demands are, finds himself caught up in a much larger story than he can handle. The therapist’s husband, concerned about his health due to a potential SARS-CoV-2 infection, listens to a strange story involving a former ambulance colleague while waiting for the next emergency call. Meanwhile, a detective from the organized crime unit, disturbed by the recent death of one of his colleagues, finds himself trapped in a dark tale while interrogating a young woman.
Cristi Puiu, producer Anca Puiu, producer Sergiu Cumatrenco Jr., and the team from Moldova will attend the screening of the film.
In Stuff and Dough, a young man from Constanta who owns a small business (selling from his apartment window) wants to expand and buy a kiosk but lacks the means. A local influential figure offers him a substantial sum of money for what appears to be a straightforward task: delivering a bag to a precise address in Bucharest. However, it turns out that the bag contains items of interest to others. Initially convinced he was only selling his services, the young man realizes too late that he has sold his conscience. Stuff and Dough brought a fresh perspective to Romanian cinema upon its release and is considered the first film of the Romanian New Wave.
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu solidified the Romanian New Wave’s reputation, especially internationally, as it earned recognition among the best films worldwide in 2005. Mr. Lazarescu, a 63-year-old man living alone, feels ill and calls for an ambulance. The ambulance arrives, and the nurse decides to take him to the hospital. Once they arrive, the hospital redirects them to another facility, and then to yet another.
Born in Bucharest in 1967, Cristi Puiu studied painting for a year before pursuing film directing at the School of Visual Arts in Geneva, where he graduated in 1996. After returning to Romania, he continued painting and making films, creating several short fiction and documentary films. He made his feature film debut with Stuff and Dough (2001). In 2004, his short film A Cartridge of Kent and a Pack of Coffee won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. He followed with The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), Aurora (2010), Three Exercises in Interpretation (2013), Sieranevada (2016), Malmkrog (2019), and MMXX (2023). He is considered as one of the most important Romanian filmmakers ever.
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The “NEW FILMS” section at RFD Chisinau, which includes MMXX (2023, directed by Cristi Puiu), will also feature the following films: Three Kilometers to the End of the World (2024, directed by Emanuel Parvu), Familiar (2023, directed by Calin Peter Netzer), The New Year That Wasn’t (2024, directed by Bogdan Muresanu), Great Week (2024, directed by Andrei Cohn), and Warboy (2023, Romania-Moldova, directed by Marian Crisan). Additionally, the section will present the short film The Black House (2024, Romania-Moldova, directed by Dumitru Grosei).
The sections for Retro, Films for Children, Archive Student Shorts, and Masterclass, as well as the complete festival program, will be announced soon.
For more information, visit the Facebook page of Zilele Filmului Romanesc in Chisinau or the website http://zfrmd.ro.
RFD is organized by the Independent Filmmakers Association of Moldova, ALTERNATIVE CINEMA, and the Romanian production company ROVA FILM.
The 10th edition of the Romanian Film Days in Chisinau received funding from the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova within the Romanian Government, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova, the Romanian Cultural Institute ”Mihai Eminescu” in Chisinau, the National Center for Cinematography of Moldova, the National Center for Cinematography of Romania, and the Union of Romanian Filmmakers.