Film selections to screen in
New York at IFC Center, Roxy Cinema New York and DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema
Festival features works from Cristi Puiu, Tudor Giurgiu, emerging Romanian auteurs and unmissable cult classics
New York, NY, March 2024 — Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema, the oldest comprehensive showcase of Romanian cinema in the U.S., returns for its 18th edition from March 28 to April 2, 2024 across three prestigious Manhattan venues – IFC Center, Roxy Cinema New York and DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema.
The 18th edition of the Romanian film festival in New York boasts an exciting and diverse selection of eight films, showcasing the best of contemporary Romanian filmmaking and a couple of unmissable cult classics.
This year’s edition features the U.S. premiere of Cristi Puiu’s (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) uncompromising MMXX, a four-episode anthology guaranteed to spark conversation and engage a critical eye. Travel back in time with Libertate by Tudor Giurgiu and Occasional Spies by Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu, both historical reenactments of lesser-known chapters of the Romanian Revolution and World War II, respectively. Thrill-seekers get their fix with Boss by Bogdan Mirică, a unique exploration of the noir genre within the current landscape of Romanian cinema. Documentary aficionados can unlock the past with Vlad Petri’s inventive mix of archival material and literary fiction in Between Revolutions, and immerse themselves in a nuanced examination of a bewildering case of bureaucratic absurdity with Ilinca Călugăreanu’s darkly humorous A Cautionary Tale.
For a taste of Romanian cinematic heritage, Angela Goes On offers the perfect companion piece and further context to Radu Jude’s provocative Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, which opens the same week at IFC Center. Finally, the festival continues its tradition of spotlighting Eastern European cinema with a special screening of the timely masterpiece Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, celebrating the centennial of director Sergei Parajanov. Though filmed in Soviet Ukraine by an Armenian director, this visually stunning and emotionally rich film beautifully portrays the unique customs and folklore of the Hutsul people of the Carpathian Mountains.
Guests of this year’s festival include director and producer Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu (Occasional Spies, Libertate), director Ilinca Călugăreanu (A Cautionary Tale).
The 18th Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema festival is presented by Insula 42, formerly Film ETC, in partnership with IFC Center, Roxy Cinema New York, and DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema. Corina Șuteu is the Making Waves President, with Mihai Chirilov as Artistic Director and Oana Radu as Festival Manager.
Lead support for the 18th edition of Making Waves is provided by The Trust for Mutual Understanding, with additional funding from Blue Heron Foundation, the Romanian National Film Center, Dacin Sara, Romanian Filmmakers Union, My Balkans, and individual donors.
