After dozens of roles in film, television and theatre, and after directing the short Kamasutra, Romanian actor-screenwriter-director Cristian Bota is currently in the editing room with his first feature, Back and Forth, in which he also plays one of the two protagonists. The film is being produced by Liviu Mărghidan through Scharf Film Productions and is expected to wrap post-production before the end of the year, for a domestic release in the autumn of 2026.

The screenplay, written by Bota, centres on Cornel (Bota), a young actor who is dissatisfied with his professional and personal life. Accompanied by his father, Octavian (Adrian Titieni), who is suffering from depression following a devastating car accident, Cornel drives to Vienna to meet his estranged brother (Conrad Mericoffer). The long drive and the proximity to his father, with whom he has a strained relationship, will push Cornel down a path of discovery and re-evaluation.

The film’s budget, which is still a work in progress, amounts to circa €550,000, with approximately €240,000 coming from the Romanian National Film Center. The movie was shot over 14 days in Bucharest, in Vienna and on the motorways between the two capitals. Liviu Mărghidan is the DoP, and actresses Dana Rogoz and Crina Semciuc play the female protagonists – Cornel’s wife and his sister-in-law, respectively.

Mărghidan describes the film as a “true road movie where spontaneity became a narrative staple” and shares that he favoured an “almost guerilla-style” shoot. “Technology played an essential role here, and [the cameras we used] allowed us to shoot exclusively in natural light. This gave the film a very natural feel, which supported its authenticity and the intimate vibes of the story,” the producer explains.

As for Bota, he says that making Back and Forth made him decide to favour his directing career and, “as an actor, accept only the parts that are truly challenging”. The Psychology graduate states that the father-son relationship in his film brings together two mental disorders: post-traumatic stress disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. What’s more, Back and Forth is a “film with therapeutic valences, built on the principle of mirroring therapy: as soon as you understand certain things about you, the first step towards healing has already been taken. I expect people to connect with the story and maybe even better understand aspects of their own lives after watching the film.” Bota also says that in his feature, he focused more on the “psychological truth”, as opposed to the objective truth. “If the objective truth is connected to verifiable reality, and is based on data and statistics, the psychological truth is subjective, deeply connected to one’s personal experience and the way a certain individual perceives and interprets what is happening,” the director explains.