După dealuri (Beyond the Hills)

Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills, which was Romania's entry for the foreign language film section at the Oscars, picked up the Golden Astor for Best Film at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival in Argentina, which screened over 300 films. The film enjoyed more success at the Cannes film festival, with the award for best actress awarded to Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur. Beyond the Hills was the opening film of the Romanian Film Festival in London. It was screened in front of a full house on the evening of 22 November 2012, and was followed by a Q&A with actresses Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur.

Romanian film at Cannes: Cristian Mungiu's 'Beyond the Hills'

Trailers at bottom of page

Despre oameni și melci (Of Snails and Men)

Romanian film Of Snails and Men, directed by Tudor Giurgiu, won the Special Jury Award at the 28th edition of the Warsaw International Film Festival. The Romanian-French co-production is a comedy about a group of factory workers whose work place is to be transformed into a snail-packaging facility and their efforts to stop it happening.

Retro Funny: Tudor Giurgiu's 'Of Snails and Men'

Superman, Spiderman or Batman

The Romanian production Superman, Spiderman or Batman, directed by Tudor Giurgiu, received the  European Academy Short Film 2012 Award at the gala event in Valletta, Malta, on December 1, the National Day of Romania. This short film was also awarded at the Aspen Shortfest in April (US) in the best fictional short movie category as well as with the best short movie award at the KALIBER35 Munich International Short Film Festival in June. The award received at Aspen Shortfest made Giurgiu’s film eligible for Oscar nominations in the Live-Action Short Film section. Also, this American festival offered Tudor Giurgiu the BAFTA L.A Short Film Prize, where the jury members were impressed by the sensitivity shown in the movie.

Romanian short film 'Superman, Spiderman or Batman' awarded at Munich film fest

O lună în Thailanda (One Month in Thailand)

One month in Thailand is a romantic dramedy played out over a long New Year’s  Eve in Bucharest and follows Radu's romantic crisis, which blows up at midnight, leading him to dump his clingy, annoying girlfriend and look for his former lover, whom he had unceremoniously ditched a few months previously.

Breaking up is hard to do - One Month in Thailand

Toată lumea din familia noastră (Everybody in Our Family)

The film was in the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and won a prize at the Sarajevo Festival, where the film received the Heart of Sarajevo award. Everybody in our family also received the Bayard d'Or Award and Pavlu Serban was named best actor at the Film Festival in Namur (FIFF), Belgium.

Exploding parents- Radu Jude's 'Everybody in Our Family'

Minte-mă frumos (Sweet Little Lies)

Released in the second half of October, the feature film directorial debut for Iura Luncașu became the highest grossing Romanian film of the year in record time. The film has a fairly formulaic rom-com format and with a well known cast, including Diana Dumitrescu and Andi Vasluianu, it quickly won over the Romanian public.

Sweet Little Lies, the Rom-Com Bucharest style (Minte-ma frumos)

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com