On the Count of One, Two…Three!
Romanian Films at the 48th New York Film Festival


As every other year, the 48 edition of the New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, screening critically acclaimed films from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from fourteen countries. This highly selective program features no less than three Romanian productions, proof of the persisting effervescence of the New Wave in contemporary Romanian cinema.

Cristi Puiu’s third feature, 'Aurora' and Radu Muntean’s 'Tuesday, After Christmas' will join 26 other films on the festival’s main slate, while Andrei Ujică’s essay film 'The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu' will screen as part of the festival’s special programming.

Don’t miss the U.S. premiere of these landmark films, following their world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. The special appearances of directors Radu Muntean, Cristi Puiu, and Andrei Ujică, and actors Mirela Oprişor and Mimi Brănescu, are made possible with the support of RCINY.


Five years after 'The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu' (NYFF 2005), Romanian writer-director Cristi Puiu returns with Aurora, another singular, uncompromising character study, this time casting himself in the demanding lead role. That man, named Viorel, is a metallurgical engineer whose life seems to have spun loose from its axis, leaving him to solemnly stalk the streets of Bucharest, encountering former colleagues, a mistress, his mother, and his former in-laws, all the while harboring a secret plan designed to restore order to the whole. In a series of long, methodical takes, Puiu plunges us directly into Viorel’s world, making us both voyeur and accomplice to his actions, as we gradually come to understand just who this man is and the inevitability of where he’s going. – NYFF

In Tuesday, After Christmas (Marţi, după Crăciun), Paul (Mimi Brănescu) must choose between his wife of ten years, Adriana (Mirela Oprişor), and his mistress, pediatric dentist Raluca (Maria Popistaşu). Radu Muntean’s singular, stripped-down look at adultery contains several masterfully composed long takes—scenes that further heighten the film’s unbearable suspense, from the highly awkward meeting of all the players in the triangle to Paul’s confession to his spouse. Muntean’s trio of exemplary actors convey the raw emotional states of their characters without ever once relying on histrionics; though each performer is mesmerizing to watch, Oprişor, as the oblivious and then wounded wife, is astonishing in her portrayal of one woman’s betrayal, hurt, and spite. – NYFF

An astonishing work of the sociopolitical imagination, Andrei Ujică’s audacious essay film The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu (Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceauşescu) imagines the life of the controversial Romanian President as he himself might have recalled it on the eve of his 1989 execution. Working from a treasure trove of pristine archival footage (of official communist-era newsreels), enhanced by an ingenious sound design, Ujică spins a riveting first-person narrative that traces its subject’s rapid rise through the political ranks, his efforts to unify the Communist East, and even his goodwill tour of the Americas—with little matters like the millions of ordinary Romanians denied basic human services consigned to Ceauşescu’s subconscious (and Ujică’s cutting room floor). The pièce de résistance: a North Korean welcome ceremony that ranks with Busby Berkley at his most kaleidoscopic. – NYFF


[Image: Still from 'Aurora,' directed by Cristi Puiu]