31/08/2026 - The Romanian-US production, starring newcomer Alexandru Burcă, follows a young man being indoctrinated in a nationalist camp

Vlad Ionut Popescu, Alexandru Burca and Iulian Postelnicu in Archangel (© Adi Marineci)

After debuting with A Higher Law (2021), which won the Romanian Union of Filmmakers’ Award for Best First Feature, Romanian writer-director Octav Chelaru is currently in post-production with his sophomore feature, Archangel. The project is being produced by Alexandru Ivănescu and Chelaru through Cod Film (Romania), in co-production with Romanian outfits R3 Film Rental and Avanpost, and Wavez Films (USA).

The picture follows a young man (Alexandru Burcă, in his feature-film debut) brought by his father to a nationalist camp in order to hide him from the authorities. As he undergoes indoctrination rituals, his body begins to experience strange metamorphoses, especially when the name of the Archangel Michael is invoked. In parallel, the actor portraying the recruit in a film within this film is questioned by the movie’s director (Victoria Răileanu from Y and The New Year That Never Came) about his own political beliefs, as the two narrative layers begin to mirror each other. Iulian Postelnicu (Arrest, Men of Deeds), Valeriu Andriuță (Beyond the Hills, Love 1: Dog, also a first-time feature director with The Circle) and Vlad Ionuț Popescu (We Won’t Grow Old Together) round off the cast.

Produced on a budget of approximately €410,000, the project originated from a 40-minute short film supported by the Romanian National Film Center, with the feature-length version being further developed with private financing. The project was presented at this year’s Works in Progress programme of the Transilvania IFF and at CineLink, the co-production market of the Sarajevo Film Festival. The film was shot in May 2026 over 11 days, with Ana Drăghici serving as DoP.

Chelaru tells Cineuropa that his interest in “the resurgence of the far right goes back to secondary school, when, for a short period of time and without realising it then, I was part of a kind of ultra-Christian group with nationalist overtones, promoted by a literature teacher.

“The film is built on the contrast between accommodation and violence. I have always wondered how decent people – or at least people who seem decent – reacted when a red line was crossed. How the moral brake of members of extremist organisations gradually disappears, until they no longer react to actions that, very shortly before, would have outraged them. I built the entire film on this question,” the director explains, adding that viewers might smile at certain scenes in Archangel, “as they pick up the irony” but “are left with a void in their stomach. […] I think young people are more vulnerable the more alone they feel. Extremism offers them exactly what they are lacking: belonging, certainties and the feeling that they are part of something bigger than themselves.” Chelaru describes this idea as being at the core of his new feature.

Currently in post-production, with editing completed, Archangel is expected to be ready in the coming months, with a national premiere tentatively set for spring 2027.