Cinema · 9 of the best in Bucharest
The Romanian New Wave
The back story
About The Romanian New Wave
From the mid-2000s, a group of Romanian directors began winning the world’s great film festivals with spare, realistic, often darkly funny films about everyday life. Critics called it the Romanian New Wave, and it made Bucharest one of the most talked-about film cities in Europe.
A new style
The New Wave films share a style: long takes, natural light, real locations in Bucharest’s blocks and streets, little music and dialogue that feels overheard.
The prizes
Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu won a prize at Cannes in 2005. In 2007, Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest award. Corneliu Porumboiu’s 12:08 East of Bucharest won the Caméra d’Or, and in 2021 Radu Jude won the Golden Bear in Berlin.
In 2007 a Romanian film won the Palme d’Or.
Where to watch
Bucharest’s arthouse cinemas, such as Cinema Elvire Popesco and Cinemateca Eforie, often show Romanian films with English subtitles, and the Bucharest International Film Festival and Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest showcase new work.
Our advice: watch one New Wave film before you come, then look out for screenings with English subtitles at the arthouse cinemas.
Why it's on our list
- A new style
- Cannes and Berlin
- The directors
- Where to watch
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The Romanian New Wave before you go.