The newest film written and directed by Radu Jude, “Kontinental ’25”, was included in the official competition of the 75th edition of the Berlinale, which will take place from February 13 to 23. The feature film will enter cinemas in Romania in the spring of this year.
At the Berlinale, the director won two more important awards
“I am very happy to be selected in the Berlin Festival Competition. Not only because it is a very important festival, not only because those who participated in the making of this film richly deserve it, but also because it is an independent, low-budget film, made quickly, but well – and this only because of the enthusiasm and professionalism of the whole team. Many thanks to everyone for their efforts. It’s also, I hope, good news for young filmmakers who want to make internationally competitive films but don’t have access to enough resources. The fact that the film was made with an iPhone 15 and with minimal equipment proves that what Godard said in one of his last interviews is perfectly true: Le cinéma est facile avec de petits iPhones“, declared Radu Jude.
The actors Eszter Tompa, Gabriel Spahiu, Adonis Tanța, Șerban Pavlu, Oana Mardare, Annamária Biluska, Adrian Sitaru, Marius Damian, Nicodim Ungureanu, Ilinca Manolache and Dan Ursu are part of the cast. The image is signed by Marius Panduru (RSC), the editing is done by Cătălin Cristuţiu, Cristian Ștefănescu and Alexandru Dumitru took care of the sound design, Cireșica Cuciuc was responsible for the costumes, the producer is Alex Teodorescu, and the production director was Vlad Semenescu.
“The production of this film was a spontaneous initiative. The reality is that it only took us a few minutes to fully commit to the project and less than a month between when Radu presented the idea to me and the first day of shooting. The challenges of overlapping production schedules, short lead time for preparation and shooting, and limited resources paled in comparison to the determination and commitment of the team, whose efforts and energy were essential to the completion of this independent film. Kontinental ’25 reflects Radu Jude’s distinct cinematic style. We are proud to present the film as a world premiere in the Official Competition of the 75th Berlinale and to contribute to the dialogue inspired by its themes.”said Alex Teodorescu.
The feature film will be in cinemas from spring. PHOTO: Eszter Tompa
Kontinental ’25 is produced by Saga Film, in co-production with RT Features (Brazil), Bord Cadre films (Switzerland), Sovereign Films (UK) and Paul Thiltges Distributions (Luxembourg), made with the support of UPFAR – ARGOA and registered for access State aid scheme for supporting film culture and film production in Romania, organized by the Office of Film and Cultural Investments, Cash Rebate 2024 program.
Radu Jude was also present in the official competition of the Berlin Festival in 2021 with “Babardeala cu bucluc ou porno balamuc” (Golden Bear for the best film) and in 2015 with “Aferim!” (Silver Bear for best director).
In the same period, Radu Jude will also be present in Berlin with the essay film “Sleep #2” in the Woche der Kritik / Critic’s Week selection, an event organized by the German Film Critics Association, which runs parallel to the Berlinale.
