Constantin Ghenescu

Occident tells, in mosaic mode, three different stories which happen at the same time, interconnect and cross each other, with each story adding a new perspective on the previous one. Mungiu uses humour and lightness of touch to make a comment about early post-communist Romania, a depressing landscape resulting from the collision of the former communist world with the new and flamboyant capitalist offer. (Romanian Cultural Centre)

15 years ago, Luiza decided to make a fresh start in Spain. She left her 3-year-old daughter Cristina in the care of her relatives and took off. When she returns to Romania, the woman learns some shocking truths that were kept hidden from her: Cristina ran away from home, is a drug addict and has a 2-year-old girl who lives in an orphanage. Overwhelmed by guilt, Luiza attempts to save her daughter and thus redeem the mistakes of her youth. (imdb)

16 year old Ryna is the daughter of a poor Romanian who runs a gas station in a small community in the Danube delta. Ryna has been brought up like a boy because her father had longed for a son. The film is about strong family ties, about a daughter's search for her mother, and about a despotic father slowly losing his grip. But, it is also about poverty, social suppression and the abuse of power by those who rule under the guise of a false freedom. Ryna shows the awakening of a young girl's soul (imdb)

In the 60s in Romania Serafim, a graduate of medical school, comes to the town of Palilula. Nowhere, that is. Palilula is a ghost town, lost in the middle of the Vallahian plain. A quarantine area, a sanatorium, improbable hospital, a gynecological clinic in a settlement where no child is born. The young doctor Serafim will not get to practice his profession as a pediatrician, in this childless town. He will be drowning in the sweet and poisoned honey of the place, like a fly caught by a frog. (imdb)