Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s official competition title 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [trailer, film focus] will be a surprise at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The European country with the lowest number of films and filmgoers is rooting for the 39 year-old, award-winning polyglot, who in the past worked with Radu Mihaileanu on Train de Vie and already participated at Cannes in 2002 with his first feature film, Occident, in the Directors’ Fortnight.
Romania is thus aiming high this year, after having picked up the Camera d’Or (for Best First Film) last year for 12:08 East of Bucharest [trailer, film focus] by Corneliu Porumboiu and the 2005 victory in the Un certain regard section for The Death of Mr Lazarescu [trailer] by Cristi Puiu (this year a jury member).

The coveted Palme d’Or for short films has been won only twice by Romanians so far, in 1957 for “Courte Histoire” by Ion Popescu Gopo and more recently in 2004 for Traffic by Catalin Mitulescu, who will be a guest this year, with his new feature project, at the third edition of the festival’s Atelier de la Cinéfondation (see article).

Confirmation of the vitality of the new wave of Romanian directors finally comes from the presence of a feature film in official competition. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days has been described by the director as “a story of two young girls one Saturday morning” in 1987, and represents a return to the stories of Communist times, filtered by Mungiu’s personal memories.

Made on a budget of €590,000, the film was produced by Mobra Films and Saga Film with financing from the Romanian National Centre for Cinematography, public television and the Hubert Bals Fund. International sales are being handled by Wild Bunch.

Moreover, Un Certain Regard also includes the debut feature by Romania’s Cristian Nemescu, California Dreamin' [trailer]. The film was in post-production when the 27 year-old director died in a tragic car accident. Nemescu had previously participated in the Critics’ Week sidebar with Marilena From Block P7.