Aferim!, the Romanian movie that brought director Radu Jude a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, in February this year, had over 20,000 spectators in Romania in the debut weekend.

The black and white historical drama thus set a new record for highest attendance at the premiere of a Romanian movie, in the last 13 years. It surpassed De ce eu? (Why Me?) by Tudor Giurgiu, which had 19.900 spectators in the opening weekend, Pozitia Copilului (The Child’s Pose) by Calin Peter Netzer, the Golden Bear winner in 2013, which had 19,700 spectators in the first weekend, and the comedy Selfie by Cristina Iacob, which had 12,650 spectators.

However, the movie was only second in terms of spectators in the weekend, being surpassed by the action thriller Run All Night, featuring Liam Neeson, which had 27,200 spectators in Romanian cinemas.

Aferim! made some 58,000 in revenues in Romania last weekend, half of what Run All Night made.

The best-performing movie in Romania this year was Fifty Shades of Gray, which had 145,700 spectators and EUR 622,000 revenues in the opening weekend.

Romanian Film Review – Once upon a time in Wallachia: Aferim!

Award – winning Romanian drama Aferim, with English subtitles at local cinema

Romanian director gets the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for historical drama Aferim!

editor@romania-insider.com