07/05/2014 - The Romanian director's fifth feature will start production in August

Four years after his Tuesday, After Christmas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Muntean
film profile] was selected in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at Cannes, Radu Muntean is in pre-production with his fifth feature, One Floor Below. The drama has a budget of approximately €1 million and has been written by Muntean together with his traditional writing partners, Răzvan Rădulescu and Alexandru Baciu. 

The film will start production in August, and shooting is expected to wrap by September. The film’s protagonist is Pătraşcu (Teodor Corban’s first lead role since Corneliu Porumboiu's 2006 Caméra d'Or winner 12:08 East of Bucharest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
interview: Daniel Burlac
film profile]), a middle-aged man who is the sole witness to a domestic quarrel that ends in murder. According to the film’s logline, “Pătraşcu finds himself at odds with two very close neighbours: one is the bizarre murderer, while the other is his very own conscience.” The film’s other main actor is Iulian Postelnicu (Domestic [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

One Floor Below is produced by Multimedia Est, represented by Dragoş Vâlcu, with France's Les Films de l'Après-midi (François d'Artemare) and Sweden's Bleck Film & TV AB (Anna Croneman) on board as co-production companies. 

In 2012, the project received a grant of approximately €210,000 from the Romanian National Film Center. It is also supported by the MEDIA Programme, Aide aux Cinémas du Monde and Film I Vast.

A domestic release is expected in 2015.