Romanian film review – Romanian nights @Grădina cu filme & Super festival @MȚR

Summer may have come to its end, but warm evenings, especially in Bucharest, are many yet to come, and a true blessing for open-air events later in the year.

Grădina cu filme CREART (The Garden with Movies) is an insider tip yet for many. Located in the very centre of Bucharest, just a few minutes from Piața Romană, in Piața Lahovari, the Garden hosts outdoor events, films, plays, discussions, stand-up, and so on. They screen both international and Romanian movies, and just kicked off the month of September with Romanian short films that were part of the competition at TIFF, Romania‘s biggest international film fest. The five titles included the winner Mihai Dragolea’s Aurică, viață de câine/ Aurică, a Dog‘s Life, Miruna Minculescu’s Fragmentări/ Fragmentations, and Tudor Pojoni’s Cori și Willi/ Cori and Willi. All films in the programme are most topical in their choice of themes, focusing on pressing social aspects, well-acted and thoughtfully written.

The current Romanian evenings, the 2 and 3 September, include Octav Chelaru’s feature debut Balaur/ A Higher Law (more on this in the following column) and Ștefan Constantinescu’s Om-Câine/ Man and Dog, two dramas also attuned to current times and mores: religion, personal crises, Covid, politics. The events start at 9pm and include discussions with the filmmakers.

Next week, on 8 September, the Garden will host the first programme of international short films in the competition of BIDFF, the 18th edition of the