(Cum mi-am petrecut sfârsitul lumii, Cãtãlin Mitulescu, Romania/France 2006, 106 min., 35mm, Romanian with English subtitles)
Contemporary with the emergence of the Romanian New Wave with The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days (2007), this film about a family struggling during the last days of the Ceauşescu government received a limited release in this country. Eva (Dorotheea Petre) is a seventeen-year-old girl who gets into trouble at school and is expelled. Her younger brother, Lilu (Timotei Duma), joins a choir tasked with singing for the president while absorbing the grumblings of neighbors and relatives. Both seek to find a way to escape what seems to be a pre-determined fate. Alternately charming and heart-braking, Mitulescu’s first feature provides a personal glimpse into the circumstances that brought about the end of Communism in Romania.