If there is something that Romanian directors and producers can agree on, it is the fact that the local film industry is terribly under-funded, which means that Romanian production companies usually shy away from genres with complicated (and expensive) production necessities, such as period dramas. But lately, national directors have been trying out new styles and approaches, and one intriguing example of this is Marian Crişan’s Warboy, a film set during the turbulent year of 1944, as Romania is ravaged by World War II. Warboy is being staged by Rova Film, represented by Crişan and Răzvan Bumbeş. Dragoş Turea’s Parmis Film (Moldova) and Viorel Chesaru’s Chainsaw Europe (Romania) are the co-production companies.

The screenplay, written by Crişan (whose previous features include 2010’s Morgen [+lee también:
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The film’s budget amounts to circa €700,000, with approximately €300,000 coming from the Romanian National Film Center. The Moldovan National Film Center has also supported the project. Production started in late June and will continue until the end of September in several villages and small towns in the Apuseni Mountains. Adrian Pădureţu is the DoP. Reginald Ammons, Ovidiu Crişan, Adina Iftime, Ion Bechet and Sergiu Voloc play supporting characters.

Crişan tells Cineuropa that, initially, he didn’t plan to make a period drama, but he was drawn to his grandfather’s stories. “He had these memories from 1944 and 1945, when he was a teenager and he took care of a rich neighbour’s horses. Warboy started with these memories and with this question: what did war mean for a child in those times? What does it mean for a child regardless of the era?”

Crişan also says that Warboy will try to shed light on relevant things that were left unsaid about how civilians lived through the war. “The majority of the [Romanian] films made in the 1970s and 1980s deceived the audience and had a nationalistic approach. (…) They said nothing about the families left behind. This was what interested me – making a war film in 2022, but without any heroic deeds or trenches. On the other hand, I think that what I am trying to convey is that the story of this teenager from 1944 is universally valid, no matter when the war happens.”

Warboy will be released domestically next year.