Program
The New Year That Never Came
Anul Nou care n-a fost
Date: 08/21/2025
Time: 21:00
Location: Fetislam Summer Stage
Duration: 138 min
New Year that Never Came Just days before the fall of Ceaușescu in Romania, the lives of six ordinary people become intertwined in the turmoil unfolding as the regime collapses. A director at the state television, in a panic, searches for a replacement for the lead actress in the New Year’s special after she defects to the West – unaware that her replacement also detests the regime’s propaganda. The director’s young son secretly plans to swim across the frozen Danube and escape to Yugoslavia, but the secret police are watching his every move. A member of the secret police is torn between loyalty to the regime and protecting his mother, who is facing eviction from her apartment being seized by the state. A factory worker realizes in fear that his son's letter to Santa Claus could put the whole family in danger. The tragicomic moments in these lives tick away like a clock, counting down to the revolution, eventually set off by the bang of a single firecracker.
Where There Is Love, There Is No Darkness
Where There Is Love, There Is No Darkness
Date: 08/22/2025
Time: 18:00
Location: Cultural Center
Duration: 78 min
In the very heart of Paris, Seydou, an undocumented migrant, works as a delivery man to support his family in Senegal, facing the dangers of the city’s nightlife in a metropolis where he is virtually invisible. Unexpectedly, Seydou forms a friendship with Albert, an elderly widower who lives a reclusive life, and it is this friendship that gives him a sense of warmth and belonging in the city despite the hardships.
Territory
Territory
Date: 08/22/2025
Time: 21:00
Location: Fetislam Summer Stage
Duration: 60 min
Film "Territory", directed by Álex Galán (Salvajes, 2021), is considered one of the Spanish documentaries of the year following its premiere at international festivals in Moscow, Atlántida, FICX, Turin, and Cairo. Shot in the snowy mountains of Central Asia and starring Darko Péric (Money Heist), the film explores the path to deconstructing the concept of success among nomadic shepherds and remote landscapes. "Territory" is a rare discovery, a wild experience set in one of the harshest winters on the continent, evoking Asian naturalist cinema more than traditional Spanish film. With a radically independent spirit, it premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival and arrived in Spain through the Atlántida Mallorca Film Fest, before continuing on to St. Petersburg, Yalta, Almería Western, FICX, Tangier, and the prestigious TFF Turin and Cairo festivals.
Tilva Roš
Tilva Roš
Date: 08/23/2025
Time: 18:00
Location: Cultural Center
Duration: 103 min
While protests are taking place in the mining town of Bor over the privatisation of the copper mine, two nineteen-year-old skateboarders, Toda and Stefan, spend their time in abandoned open-pit mines, filming stunt videos inspired by the MTV series Jackass. With the arrival of their friend Dunja for the summer holidays, the two begin to compete for her affection by recording increasingly outrageous clips. In this strange mix of genuine friendship and rivalry, the two protagonists try to outperform one another.
Granița Morții (The Border of Death)
Granița Morții
Date: 08/23/2025
Time: 21:00
Location: Fetislam Summer Stage
Duration: 105 min
The Border of Death is a powerful documentary that exposes the harsh reality of life under the communist regime, focusing on the perilous attempts of citizens to flee Romania in search of freedom. Through harrowing testimonies from survivors, the film portrays the brutal conditions at the border: barbed wire, armed guards, torture, and executions. By combining archival footage, dramatized scenes, and firsthand accounts, the film reveals the immense risks faced by those who tried to escape to the West—often paying for that attempt with their lives.
Scarred Hearts
Inimi cicatrizate
Date: 08/24/2025
Time: 18:00
Location: Cultural Center
Duration: 141 min
Based on the novel of the same name by Max Blecher, the film portrays the life of Emanuel, a young Jewish man suffering from spinal tuberculosis, during his treatment at a Romanian sanatorium on the Black Sea coast in the 1930s. Despite frequent, severe, and painful medical interventions, and although physically weak, Emanuel remains strong in spirit and intellect, and maintains a cheerful disposition by forming relationships with other patients and finding moments of beauty and meaning in a life full of limitations.
Trail of the Beast
Trag divljači
Date: 08/24/2025
Time: 21:00
Location: Fetislam Summer Stage
Duration: 105 min
Yugoslavia, 1979. The entire country is shaken by a brutal and mysterious murder in a small town in eastern Serbia. A young and ambitious journalist arrives in the town determined to investigate the crime and uncover the truth, but he soon becomes entangled in a web of family secrets and a long history of violence.