If one were looking for a director-producer duo specialising in thrillers in the rather genre-free Romanian film industry, one should definitely check out the work of Bogdan Mirică and Corneliu Porumboiu. After releasing Mirică’s Cannes-selected debut feature, Dogs [+lee también:
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The screenplay, written by the director, focuses on Bogdan (Laurenţiu Bănescu, best known for playing the protagonist in Nae Caranfil’s 6.9 on the Richter Scale [+lee también:
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The film’s budget amounts to €1.48 million, with circa €560,000 coming from the Romanian National Film Center. The Film Fund Luxembourg has also supported the project. The shoot took place last year between the end of October and the beginning of December, mainly in Bucharest and the surrounding areas, and in the seaside city of Mangalia. Andrei Butică is the DoP. Ioana Bugarin, Sergiu Costache, Teodor Corban, Cosmina Stratan, Cuzin Toma, Mimi Brănescu and Diana Cavallioti play supporting characters.

The director tells Cineuropa, “Boss was not at all easy to make. It has many spectacular locations, but shooting there came with high risks, so everything had to be prepared in minute detail. For example, we had a night shoot on an active construction site, where we also had to perform a stunt […]. Everyone, including the production team, the stuntmen and the police (who were very much involved) had to coordinate perfectly.” Regarding the spirit of his story, the director says: “In Boss, more than ever, I have tried to capture the alienation felt by an individual who lives anonymously among his peers in a society where every interaction, no matter how insignificant, is actually a balance of forces and only the fittest survives.”

Boss will be released domestically by Bad Unicorn in the spring of 2023.