For audiences, it was most probably the 2007 Cannes success of Cristian Mungiu’s Golden Palm winning film, 4 Months, 3Weeks and 2 Days, that triggered the discovery of Romanian films. However, there are numerous outstanding directors besides Mungiu (e.g., Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu, Cătălin Mitulescu) whose names characteristic in the field often referred to as ‘Romanian new wave’,  which also dominates feature films as well.
Yet, in an interview, Adrian Sitaru expresses his doubt, whether his visual world is still characterized by the same minimalism and hyperrealism that describes the artists mentioned above.
In any case, the latest festival results and the ever-increasing number of Romanian Film Days organized worldwide confirm that Romanian films have become a success and have earned recognition from professionals and audiences alike. The financial difficulties of the decades following the regime change did not appear to hinder the artists from formulating a language which explores human and social issues, and which makes them comprehensible way beyond the boundaries of the region.

The Millennium Monument with its special atmosphere hosts Arcos Temporum’s short movie programme, which was set forth in 2008 by introducing four Hungarian directors (Péter Mészáros, Marcell Iványi, László Nemes Jeles and Bálint Kenyeres). Last year, two Kyrgyz artists, Aktan Abdykalykov and Ernest Abdysaparov presented films of poetic beauty and symbolic power.
We have picked five Romanian short movies for this year’s festival. The visual tools, perspective and mentality of the works by Gabriel Sârbu, Adrian Sitaru, Radu Jude, Ciprian Alexandrescu and Florin Piersic Jr. provide an insight into today’s Romanian (short) movie trends and their direction, while reflecting on where the world surrounding us, our own dwelling place is headed …