The notion that Romania could emerge as one of the most vibrant and exciting filmmaking centers in Europe, if not the world, would have seemed far-fetched a decade ago. And yet, within the past five years a generation of remarkably talented young Romanian directors have produced an impressive body of films that have consistently landed at the top of international critics’ polls and in the coveted top tier of film festivals from Cannes to New York. A clear pattern was defined by the almost unanimous praise and wealth of prizes garnered by The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), a brilliant and scabrously funny satire of bureaucratic inefficiency by Christi Puiu, one of the more influential artists of the New Romanian Cinema. The critical and commercial success of 12:08 East of Bucharest in 2006, followed by the triumph of three Romanian features at Cannes this year—Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days (Palme d’Or, 2007), California Dreamin’ (Un Certain Regard, 2007) and The Way I Spent The End of the World (Best Actress, Un Certain Regard, 2006) have made it clear that Romanian cinema has arrived.

This series provides a crash course in the New Romanian Cinema, with a special focus on four of its most important and innovative directors: Chrisi Puiu, Cristian Nemescu, Catalin Mitulescu and Corneliu Porumboiu. Together these gifted artists have given Romanian cinema a refreshingly new vernacular forged by rich stylistic and thematic predilections, most notably their frequent use of meditative long shots and the trenchant humor which infuses their exploration of post-Ceausescu Romania. Willing to dismantle even the most venerable of Romanian cultural institutions, this new generation of young artists has produced one of the most innovative, audacious and essential national cinemas.