Ștei

A documentary about the Kosmos collective in Timisoara: a self-organized group of artists, curators, and musicians who revived a former textile factory.

1968, The Socialist Republic of Romania. Women catch up on the latest tendencies in beachwear, the young hippies of Hamburg are harshly criticized by Romanian students, while Nicolae Ceaușescu reads the famous defiance speech against the intervention of the Warsaw Pact troops in Czechoslovakia. Floating solemnly over all this is The Internationale, sung on a stadium by a crowd of pioneers dressed in white shirts and red ties. A certainty for each probability: the documentary is at the same time a history lesson and an ideological warning sign, the director’s endeavour permanently draws our attention to the functions of the propaganda film, yet without tarnishing the fascination that dwells in the core of the images, that of the figures that wave at us from a past buried in commonplaces and political parti pris.

A documentary-essay which shows Costică Axinte's stunning collection of pictures depicting a Romanian small town in the thirties and forties. The narration, composed mostly from excerpts taken from the diary of a Jewish doctor from the same era, tells the rising of the antisemitism and eventually a harrowing depiction of the Romanian Holocaust.

Procreation is the social duty of all fertile women, was the political thinking during the 1960s and 1970s in Romania. In 1966, Ceaucescu issued Decree 770, in which he forbade abortion for all women unless they were over forty or were already taking care of four children. All forms of contraception were totally banned. The New Romanian Man was born. By 1969, the country had a million babies more than the previous average. Romanian society was rapidly changing. By using very interesting archival footage and excerpts from old fiction films and by interviewing famous personalities from that time – gynecologists or mothers who were part of the new society - the director revives this period of tremendous oppression of personal freedom. Many deaths were caused by the mere fact that women, including wives of secret Romanian agents, famous TV presenters, and actresses, had to undergo illegal abortions. Many women were jailed for having them.

A documentary that exposes the shocking truths behind industrial food production and food wastage, focusing on fishing, livestock and crop farming. A must-see for anyone interested in the true cost of the food on their plate.

Me sem s-ar tu

The true story of Traian Popovici, a Romanian Mayor that saved 20,000 Jewish People from death during WWII and his friend, who married a Jewish woman against Hitler's orders.

A documentary portrait of legendary Perfect Ten gymnast Nadia Comaneci after becoming an icon in the 1976 Olympics, during her Romanian period, and her challenging years under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu.

The last days of the first Romanian king, Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and the tough decisions he had to make in the summer of 1914 in order to please both Romanian Parliament and his relatives from the German Empire.

This mountain region that reaches across several countries in Eastern Europe is the home to gold diggers, wizards, cow herders and old Hassids.

Recorded over 10 years, România Sălbatică shows the colorful beauty of Romanian nature accompanied with wildlife.

In 1947, Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito visited, for the first time, Romania. Its communist regime gave him, as present, a painting from a great Romanian artist Ion Andeescu: 'The Leafless Forest'. In the 60s, a young art critic, Radu Bogdan, decided to elaborate a monograph dedicated to the great painter, including reproduction of the painting given to Tito. After countless problems, he obtained the permission to photograph the painting. The moment they took the painting off the wall, they found - a microphone. Somebody was spying on Tito...

In the south-east of Europe lies a natural jewel that is unparalleled: Romania. Bears and wolves still roam its inaccessible forests, in its remote villages people still live in harmony with nature - many things appear as in times long past for us. Romania is still home to animals and traditions that have long been lost in other regions: marmots inhabit the high meadows of the Carpathian Mountains, where shepherds graze their sheep in summer. Colorful bee-eaters live in Transylvania and pelicans fish in the Black Sea. With impressive images, this high-quality nature documentation takes you to surprisingly unknown, wild Romania.

The three-hour-long documentary covers 25 years in the life of Nicolae Ceaușescu and was made using 1,000 hours of original footage from the National Archives of Romania.

The film starts with a long, static shot of the sun rising above the hills near the Roma village of Hetea in Romania. We only hear the sounds of birds, including a cuckoo. In the distance, a satellite dish figures on a roof. Slowly, the daily routine begins. We see more and more activity, like the harnessing of a horse to a cart, loading stripped tree trunks, collecting water from a pipe, playing soccer and a girl getting punished with a severe slap on her arm. These scenes are mostly captured from a distance. Then, towards noon, the fat is in the fire. The camera looks for the villagers who argue with each other and registers how an old man paces up and down the street. Because the images have not been subtitled (intentionally), the meaning of the quarrel remains unclear. The film does not mention any names or other facts, either. The absence of this context makes this documentary into a picturesque impression.

Set in early 19th century Wallachia, Romania, a policeman, Costandin, is hired by a nobleman to find a Gypsy slave who has run away from his estate after having an affair with his wife.

A Roma beggar on his knees raises many extreme emotions: guilt, rage, sympathy and frustration. Most people just walk on by, but there is always someone willing to help. In this film, the director follows the confrontations between the Roma beggars from Romania and Finnish people, and is forced to question, over and over again, her own ideas about helping.

Charming amateur film featuring the Eisner family, who emigrated to Britain from Romania the year this film was made.

The days around New Year's Eve of a Nepali immigrant worker in Romania.

A look at what happened after Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was filmed in the Romanian village of Glod. It follows the life of one girl who longs to escape the poverty as foreign lawyers arrive with the promise of suing 20th Century Fox for millions of dollars.