Romania selects ‘The Heist of the Century’ as official submission for 2026 Oscars

Romania has chosen Teodora Ana Mihai’s Jaful Secolului/Traffic as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2026 Academy Awards. Starring Anamaria Vartolomei, Rareș Andrici, and Ionuț Niculae, the movie will be released in Romanian cinemas on September 23.

The film, written by Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu and directed by Mihai, mixes humor and social critique while tackling uneasy themes about Romania’s often fraught relationship with the West.

Inspired by real events, the story draws on the infamous 2012 theft of paintings from a Dutch museum by a group of Romanians, works allegedly destroyed afterwards in a village in Dobrogea. The case sparked outrage in Western Europe and mixed reactions at home, with Romanians caught between shame, anger, and bitter amusement.

“I am delighted by this Oscar nomination for Traffic on behalf of Romania, which confirms the very positive reactions the film received from audiences during the preview screenings. It is deliberately a film not made for festivals, but for spectators, so the nomination for an award that usually honors films with public impact is the most fitting,” said Cristian Mungiu.

“Of course, we don’t expect to win the Oscar. Our greatest prize would be for the film to be appreciated by viewers at home. After all, it is a film about ‘us’ and ‘them,’ in a context where millions of Romanians live with the frustration of being seen as second-class citizens in the countries where they have settled,” he added.

The film has already earned international recognition, including the Grand Prize at the Warsaw International Film Festival (2024), the Best Actress Award in Tokyo for Anamaria Vartolomei, the Balkan Film Award in Sofia, and the Audience Award in Shanghai.

Shot by cinematographer Marius Panduru, the film features production design by Simona Pădurețu and costumes by Margriet Procee. The cast also includes Thomas Ryckewaert, Macrina Bârlădeanu, Ana Ciontea, and Tim Haars, among others.

The Heist of the Century is Teodora Ana Mihai’s second feature after La Civil and was produced as a Romanian-Belgian-Dutch co-production.

The shortlist for the 2026 Oscars will be unveiled on December 16, with the final nominations due on January 22, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 15, 2026, in Los Angeles.

(Photo source: press release)