Radu Jude's Silver Bear winner 'Kontinental '25' to open in Romanian cinemas in June

Radu Jude's Kontinental '25, which earned the Romanian director a Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at this year's Berlinale, is scheduled to open in Romanian cinemas on June 20.

The film, a mix of drama and comedy, follows bailiff Orsolya as she makes various attempts to address her feelings of guilt following the suicide of a homeless man she evicted from his shelter.

The film was shot on an iPhone in Cluj-Napoca and its surroundings and Bucharest in only 11 days. It has been described as partly an homage to Roberto Rossellini's Europa '51.

The cast includes Eszter Tompa, Gabriel Spahiu, Adonis Tanța, Șerban Pavlu, Oana Mardare, Annamária Biluska, Adrian Sitaru, Marius Damian, Nicodim Ungureanu, Ilinca Manolache, and Dan Ursu.

The film, distributed by Independența Film, was produced by Saga Film, producer Alex Teodorescu, in co-production with RT Features (Brazil), Bord Cadre Films (Switzerland), Sovereign Films (UK), and Paul Thiltges Distributions (Luxembourg), with support from the Union of Film and Audiovisual Producers of Romania – Romanian Association for the Management of Audiovisual Works UPFAR – ARGOA.

Jude won the Golden Bear at the 2021 Berlinale for Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc and the Silver Bear for Best Director for Aferim! in 2015. He won the CICAE Art Cinema award at the 2009 Berlinale for his debut feature film, Cea mai fericită fată din lume/ The Happiest Girl in the World. His 2012 feature Toată lumea din familia noastră/ Everybody in Our Family premiered in Berlinale’s Forum section.

His 2016 Inimi cicatrizate/ Scarred Hearts received two awards at the Locarno International Film Festival and brought him the best director award at the Mar del Plata Film Festival. Jude's 2018 Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari/ I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians received the Crystal Globe Award at the 53rd edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the first Romanian feature to receive the distinction of the Czech film event.

(Photo: Independenta Film)