Kontinental ’25 – Previously Unreleased

In the Romanian city of Cluj, plans have been drawn up to demolish a dilapidated, old building to make way for a luxury hotel. The building is deserted, apart from Ion, a homeless man with a drug addiction, who has squatted in the cellar. It is up to bailiff Orsolya to evict the man, in accordance with the court order. But Ion refuses to be evicted; he takes his own life. Even though the judicial authorities assure her that she is not responsible for the man’s death, she still feels deeply guilty. Did she do the right thing, or was she merely a puppet in the hands of foreign investors?

In this razor-sharp satire, director Radu Jude takes a close look at contemporary Romania. He was particularly keen to avoid making it look too pretty or polished, so he chose to film Kontinental ’25 largely on his iPhone, completing the shoot in ten days. Jude also wrote the screenplay himself, which earned him a Silver Bear at last year’s Berlinale.