Cristian Mungiu returns to the Festival with Tales from the Golden Age, a comic creation from a collective of Romanian directors which takes a darkly ironic look at Romania under the Ceaucescu regime and the idiocies of daily life in a dictatorship.   What was the idea behind the making of this film? People answer these questions very easily, but actually what happened was that I was travelling a lot in festivals with my first film, and I was seeing lots of people my ag...

Tuesday, December 4----------The year 2007 will be remembered for many things.....but one of the biggest surprises, at least in the worlds of film and media, has been the emergence of the former Communist state of Romania as the hottest film producing territory, not only in Europe, but also worldwide. Of course, a few international arthouse hits does not a thriving industry make, but if one wanted to get a sense of where the energy and inspiration in contemporary cinema could be coming from next...

 Wednesday, September 5----------4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS, the searing drama by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu which won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, has added to that triumph by being named as the Film of the Year by the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI). The film, which also won the FIPRESCI Prize in Cannes, is making its Canadian Premiere next week at the Toronto International Film Festival.  The film, the latest in a recent renaissance of...

Sunday, May 27-------The Romanian film 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS by director Cristian Mungiu (whose celebrated debut film THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU was cited by US film critics as one of the best of last year) has won the prestigious Palme D'Or at the 60th Cannes Film Festival. The film, which was picked up for US distribution by IFC First Take, is the first film from Romania so honored. The prizes in all categories were presented prior to the Closing Night screening of the Quebec fi...