Documentary about 2015 Colectiv club fire in Bucharest opens in local cinemas early next year

Colectiv, Alexander Nanau’s documentary about the 2015 fire at the Bucharest club of the same name, will open in local cinemas on February 28 of next year.

The documentary premiered this year at the Venice Film Festival, outside of the competition. It was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and at the Zurich Film Festival, where it was also awarded. It will also be screened at the Sundance film festival, in the Spotlight section.

The film takes a behind-the-scenes look at the fight against corruption that followed the Colectiv fire, which resulted in the death of 64 people. It tells the story of the first year after the fire and follows both the authorities and the journalists in their interaction to search for and expose the truth.

“The moment of Colectiv was a trauma for all of us. After Colectiv, the decision to make a film to help me understand better how society works and the relation between the citizen and the state came naturally. I focused on the press and, for a year, I could notice from the inside, and in real time, the dramatic process of the journalists’ fight for truth with the state authorities, which, without any humanity, not only manipulated public opinion but also intentionally covered the corruption in the healthcare system, and took into account the death of its own citizens without blinking,” Nanau explained in a press release.

The documentary will be screened in Bucharest and 20 other cities in the country. Starting next spring, it will also be available on HBO and HBO GO.

In October this year, Colectiv received the Golden Eye award for Best Film in the International Documentary Film Competition category of the Zurich Film Festival.

(Photo: Zurich Film Festival press pictures at zff.com)