Corneliu Porumboiu is known for his films 12:08 East of Bucharest/ A fost sau n-a fost?, from 2006, a revisiting of the 1989 Romanian revolution, which got the Camera D'or prize at Cannes, and for the much acclaimed Police, Adjective/Polițist, adjectiv from 2009, another Cannes-awarded entry in the Un Certain Regard section.

Porumboiu, born in 1975 in Valsui, in North – Eastern Romania, graduated the Academy of Economic Studies.

He is the son of former football judge Adrian Porumboiu, currently a well known entrepreneur in Romania. He managed to make a name for himself independently however, and few know about his family connection to the entrepreneur Porumboiu.