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Essential Romanian Cinema

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
Cristi Puiu · 8 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
After suffering terrible headaches and stomach cramps, Mr. Lăzărescu, a lonely 63 year-old man, calls for an ambulance, beginning one man’s hellish journey through Bucharest hospitals in search of proper medical care. As the night unfolds, his health starts to deteriorate fast.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Cristian Mungiu · 5 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Philo
Two college roommates have 24 hours to make the ultimate choice as they finalize arrangements for a black market abortion.
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu (2010)
Andrei Ujică · 2 critic votes
The three-hour-long documentary covers 25 years in the life of Nicolae Ceaușescu and was made using 1,000 hours of original footage from the National Archives of Romania.
Sieranevada (2016)
Cristi Puiu · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
Back from a professional trip to Paris, a neurologist at the pinnacle of his career has to pick up his wife so that they can attend a family meal to commemorate his father, who died a year before. At his mother's flat, the guests are waiting for the priest to arrive while arguing about all kinds of things connected and unconnected with the world’s events and wars.
Forest of the Hanged (1965)
Liviu Ciulei · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Klassiki
In 1916 as an officer in the Habsburg Army ethnic Romanian Apostol Bologa is torn between remaining loyal to the Habsburgs or deserting to the Romanian Army across enemy lines.
Stone Wedding (1973)
Mircea Veroiu, Dan Pița · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Klassiki
Two bleak stories about absent love. In the first, a widow is working hard in a desperate attempt to save her dying daughter. The second tells the story of two wandering singers who kidnap a bride from her wedding.
An Unforgettable Summer (1994)
Lucian Pintilie · 1 critic vote
In 1925 Romania, young Marie-Therese Von Debretsy refuses the flirtatious advances of her husband's commanding officer. As a result, the cosmopolitan family is reassigned to a brutally bleak and dangerous outpost on the Bulgarian/Romanian frontier where both their relationship and humanity are severely tested.
Police, Adjective (2009)
Corneliu Porumboiu · 1 critic vote
Free on Plex, Plex Channel · Streaming on Criterion Channel
A cop named Cristi must go undercover to trail teen Victor who is suspected of selling pot in the north-eastern city of Vaslui.
Aurora (2010)
Cristi Puiu · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy, Criterion Channel, Klassiki
A taciturn Romanian divorcee acquires a hunting rifle and initiates a killing spree.
If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (2010)
Florin Șerban · 1 critic vote
A teenager prisoner awaits his release when two weeks before that happens he's told that his mother is returned home. Meanwhile, he finds himself in love with a Sociology student, Ana, working in the penitentiary as an intern.
The Second Game (2014)
Corneliu Porumboiu · 1 critic vote
Streaming on MUBI Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel
A deceptively simple set-up: the director and his father watch a 1988 football match which the father refereed, their commentary accompanying the original television images in real time. A Bucharest derby between the country’s leading teams, Dinamo and Steaua, taking place in heavy snow, one year before the revolution that toppled Ceaușescu.
The Dead Nation (2017)
Radu Jude · 1 critic vote
Free on Cineverse
A documentary-essay which shows Costică Axinte's stunning collection of pictures depicting a Romanian small town in the thirties and forties. The narration, composed mostly from excerpts taken from the diary of a Jewish doctor from the same era, tells the rising of the antisemitism and eventually a harrowing depiction of the Romanian Holocaust.
Collective (2019)
Alexander Nanau · 1 critic vote
Free on Tubi TV, YouTube Free, Xumo Play · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Dox Amazon Channel
In the aftermath of a tragic fire in a Romanian club, burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life threatening. A team of investigative journalists move into action uncovering the mass corruption of the health system and of the state institutions. Collective follows journalists, whistle blowers, and authorities alike. An immersive and uncompromising look into a dysfunctional system, exposing corruption, propaganda, and manipulation that nowadays affect not only Romania, but societies around the world.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021)
Radu Jude · 1 critic vote
Free on Xumo Play · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla
Emi, a school teacher, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet. Forced to meet the parents demanding her dismissal, Emi refuses to surrender to their pressure.
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023)
Radu Jude · 1 critic vote
Streaming on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
On behalf of a multinational company, a production assistant drives around the Romanian city of Bucharest, interviewing various citizens who have been injured due to work accidents to cast one of them in a “safety at work” video.
Kontinental '25 (2025)
Radu Jude · 1 critic vote
Orsolya is a bailiff in Cluj, the main city in Transylvania. One day she has to evict a homeless man from a cellar, an action with tragic consequences that triggers a moral crisis which Orsolya must weather as best she can.

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Essential Romanian Cinema

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