29/07/2026 - The film is based on a novel inspired by Romania’s most popular fairytale, The Treasure of Harap-Alb

Andrei Voicu, Bogdan Farcaş, Miriam Șimșensohn and Matei Donciu in The Forest of Lost Whispers

After a busy 2025 involving the release of Comatogen, which won this year’s Gopo Award for Best Screenplay, and Plaha, a TV show widely watched in Romania and Moldova, Moldovan-Romanian director Igor Cobileanski is currently in production with The Forest of Lost Whispers, a rare fantasy children’s film hailing from both countries. The project is being produced by Colorbitor Production (Romania), represented by Andrei Gâţu, Costin Creţulescu and Mihai Mănescu, in co-production with Moldovan outfit Symbol Media (via producer Arcadie Plăcintă) and Romania’s Frame Film (via Andrei Boncea).

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Penned by Mănescu, the screenplay is based on his own novel, The Treasure of Harap-Alb (Comoara lui Harap-Alb), and focuses on a 12-year-old boy called Seb (Andrei Voicu, making his feature film debut) who’s slowly recovering from a car accident which claimed the life of his mother. One day, he happens upon a letter sent to his mother by a mysterious stranger telling her about a lost treasure. Together with his friends, Seb goes on a quest to find the treasure. Mănescu describes the original folktale written by Ion Creangă and published in 1877 as “a coming-of-age story, an initiatory journey”, while his novel and screenplay are about “an old Harap-Alb who arrives in our world to find a treasure”. The film “speaks to children about friendship, courage and self-confidence while pursuing their ideals, surpassing all obstacles,” Mănescu explains.

Production on this film shot by DoP Adrian Pădureţu started at the end of June and will wrap on 4 August. The budget amounts to €960,000 (€100,000 in in-kind contributions). The production team received support from both the Romanian Film Centre (roughly €180,000) and the Moldovan Film Centre (roughly €50,000). The film is being shot in dozens of locations, including Bucharest, the Moldovan capital Chişinău and the city of Orhei. Bogdan Farcaş (Unidentified, Immaculate) plays the adult lead Harap-Alb, Iulian Postelnicu (Arrest, Men of Deeds, The New Year That Never Came) plays the villain, while children Maria Tulea, Matei Donciu (Atlas of the Universe), Mihai Petre, and Miriam Șimșensohn play Seb’s friends.

As Igor Cobileanski specified to Cineuropa, the film "is a modern reinterpretation, an urban fantasy anchored in the present. We preserve the essence and archetypes created by Ion Creangă in his iconic folktale, but we bring them into a contemporary world where magic subtly weaves its way into everyday reality. It’s a fresh, dynamic and vibrant story that keeps the mythological DNA of the original tale intact and makes it accessible to new generations."

Producer Andrei Gâţu revealed that the scale of production for his film “hasn’t been seen in a Romanian children's film since 1989. We shot in dozens of spectacular locations across Romania and Moldova, including forests, landmark heritage villas, the Bucharest subway and a car salvage yard. We’ve got complex fairytale reenactment scenes being shot in the studio with amazing period costumes. It’s a fantastic adventure crafted to meet international standards, so that kids can enjoy their very own domestically produced blockbuster in 2027.”

Colorbitor will release The Forest of Lost Whispers in Romania on 23 April 2027.