Rolando Matsangos

Romania's winning streak at festivals continues, but the most unusual and ambiguous one still lurks in mysterious darkness. The undeservedly underrated Gabriel de Achim challenged the widely renowned Cristi Puiu (“The Death of Mr. Lazarescu”) to make a film using all the things, which the established Romanian master most detests in cinema. He constructed a non-linear story with wickedly tangled flash backs and flash forwards and set the same actors to perform different and multi-faceted roles.

Portrait of a Romanian bourgeois family.

A driving instructor is struggling with his feelings for his student.

Camil se réveille une nuit sans pénis. Le cauchemar continue lorsque sa partenaire disparaît à son tour après avoir rencontré un ancien amant. Camil se lance à sa recherche et - en portant des vêtements féminins - rejoint une communauté secrète dédiée à la fertilité, quelque part près d'un lac. Et ce qu'il y trouve va s'avérer encore plus troublant que ses récentes mésaventures...

A bartender-combiner urgently needs to pay off a debt. He persuades his brother, a fiery bouncer, to arrange a bachelor party together, without the knowledge of the owners of the club where he works.

A night. Dozens of stories. A city. Lică, a taxi driver, is an all knowing guy, while Liviu, his friend, also a taxi driver keeps a lot to himself. They are completely different and their ideas about life and people only meet when they are eating and drinking at the bar. They are frustrated with their jobs. For Lică money is the most important thing, while Liviu thinks that a happy and fulfilling life represents more. They are trying to rediscover who they are and what they can do with their life, all while being on an on going adventure on the streets of Bucharest where they cross paths with all kinds of clients who end up having an impact on their lives, for better and also for worse.

Quelque part à Bucarest, trois jours après l'attentat contre Charlie Hebdo et quarante jours après la mort de son père, Lary – 40 ans, docteur en médecine – va passer son samedi au sein de la famille réunie à l'occasion de la commémoration du défunt. L'évènement, pourtant, ne se déroule pas comme prévu. Les débats sont vifs, les avis divergent. Forcé à affronter ses peurs et son passé et contraint de reconsidérer la place qu'il occupe à l'intérieur de la famille, Lary sera conduit à dire sa part de vérité.

Seeking shelter in her work from the pain of a breakup, Lena, a painter turning 40, is commissioned to decorate a brutalist luxury hotel nestled in the depths of the Romanian forest. There, where the Danube ends its course in seemingly miraculous springs, Lena’s moral views are confronted with an overwhelmingly corrupted community.

Petru est un enseignant de mathématiques à l'Université Politehnica de Bucarest et il mène une vie sans soucis. Il a une relation ouverte avec Irina, qui accepte qu'il couche aussi avec d'autres femmes. Mais Irina tombe enceinte et Petru est obligé de changer son style de vie et de devenir mature à 42 ans. Un de ses amis, dont il a toujours été proche, décide d'écrire un livre au sujet de sa vie.

Zoe finally met someone (Duncan) that she really cares about enough to introduce to her friends. Everybody seems to be excited for her and they’re trying their best to make Duncan feel at home, but Zoe has a secret. Her mood transforms the evening into the perfect opportunity for scandal and all the characters will get the chance to express how they really feel

There comes a point in our lives when sons become caregivers for their ageing parents. Nobody is ever truly prepared for it. The parent does not want to acknowledge the need for help, and the son feels it's time to step in, yet something holds him back. Besides love, one needs a great deal of courage to play this part.