07/10/2025 - The rare Romanian children’s film stars Matei Donciu, an 11-year-old boy found after an extensive search in schools by casting director Florentina Bratfanof

Divided between bleak social dramas and (not exactly kid-friendly) popular comedies, Romanian cinema doesn’t allow too much room for children’s films or even movies starring child actors. After Ana-Maria Comănescu’s feature debut, Horia [+see also:
film review
interview: Ana-Maria Comănescu
film profile], in 2023, it is now time for established director Paul Negoescu (A Month in Thailand [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul Negoescu
film profile], The Story of a Summer Lover [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Men of Deeds [+see also:
film review
interview: Paul Negoescu
film profile]) to tackle the genre in Atlas of the Universe (working title). The project has recently wrapped production and is now in the editing room. It is being produced by Radu Stancu and Ioana Lascăr through deFilm (Romania) and by Poli Angelova through Screening Emotions (Bulgaria).

The screenplay, written by the director together with writer-director Mihai Mincan, whose second feature, Milk Teeth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mihai Mincan
film profile], will be released domestically next week after its world premiere in Venice’s Orizzonti, follows Filip (Matei Donciu), a ten-year-old boy living in a remote village. As the first day of school approaches, Filip has to travel to the nearby town to get the shoes he will wear for the entirety of the next year. Unfortunately, the kid is given the wrong pair, and he will find himself using a plethora of inventive ways to get the right shoes, as without them, the school year would be ruined.

The project was shot over one month in August and September in various towns and on the outskirts of Bucharest. Ana Drăghici, who has lensed all of Negoescu’s features since the 2016 sleeper hit Two Lottery Tickets [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul Negoescu
film profile], is the DoP. The film’s budget amounts to circa €1.1 million, with approximately €275,000 coming from the Romanian National Film Center. The project also received support from Eurimages and the Bulgarian National Film Center.

Producer Radu Stancu tells Cineuropa that Atlas of the Universe is the second feature of his career featuring a child “in almost every frame” (after Milk Teeth) and that as many as six child actors make their debut on this occasion. He says the finished movie will cater for young audiences and families. “I think we can positively influence children's perception of the world, stimulating their interest in culture, and whetting their appetite for authentic and contemporary European films with a strong artistic identity and relevant stories,” the producer says.

As for Negoescu, he says the story imagined by Mincan is “truly touching” and that he hopes the end result will be touching, too. “I really identified with the story. It transported me into my own childhood, and it made me realise I may have pushed certain feelings deep down back then. As I involved myself in the project, I discovered even more things repressed from that time.” The director also praised his young star, who was found by casting director Florentina Bratfanof: “I was looking for a child with a hidden fragility, and I think Matei was very well suited to what I needed for the movie. He is very intelligent, and he understood everything, which helped a lot.”

Atlas of the Universe will be released in Romania next year.