North American Premiere
1989. After decades of all-pervasive Communist oppression under the brutal Ceaușescu dictatorship, Romania is on the brink of change. Six intertwined stories crisscross throughout Bucharest over the course of a single day that will mark the eve of the Romanian Revolution. Students surreptitiously seek ways to leave the country; a television broadcaster panics when a pre-recorded programme becomes politically untenable; an actress thinks she’s found her big break; a child’s Christmas letter to Santa unintentionally incriminates his father. These parallel tales map out the painful absurdities of lives governed by fear, flecked with grim ironies and hopeful glimpses of a better future.
The much-anticipated debut feature film from Bogdan Mureşanu, this polyphonic tragi-comedy shuffles subtle tensions and dry humour with deft craftsmanship. Reflecting national unrest and dissatisfaction through the lens of interfamilial struggles and professional pressures, this is a powerful probe of Romanian political history.
Best Film: Orizzonti, Venice 2024; FIPRESCI Award: Premio Valentina Pedicini under 40, Venice 2024
Adrian Vǎncicǎ, Andrei Miercure, Iulian Postelnicu, Emilia Dobrin, Nicoleta Hâncu, Mihai Cǎlin
Romania
2024
In Romanian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Irina Enea, Bogdan Luca
Producer
Irina Enea, Bogdan Luca
Screenwriter
Bogdan Mureşanu
Cinematography
Boroka Biro, Tudor Platon
Editor
Vanja Kovačević, Mircea Lăcătuș
Production Design
Iulia Fulicea, Victor Fulicea
Bogdan Mureşanu
In 2012, Bogdan directed his first short film, Half Shaved, which won the Audience Award at Anonimul IFF and screened at festivals worldwide. In 2016, he completed the short Spid and Negruzzi 14, an art film showcased at the National Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2017, he worked on the animation The Magician and shot The Christmas Gift, which won Best Film at the European Film Awards and was a Top 10 finalist at the 2020 Oscars. The New Year That Never Came is his first feature film.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Two Prosecutors
In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.
Image: © SBS Productions
The Blue Trail
77-year-old Tereza makes a break for the Brazilian jungle in this trippy septuagenarian fantasy, the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a quirky picaresque, lushly photographed and filled with mordant humour.
Calle Málaga
Seventy-nine-year-old María Ángeles lives independently in Tangier's Spanish quarter. When her daughter pressures her into selling her apartment, she refuses to give in, finding in her old age a new resilience and an unexpected romantic connection.
El Suavecito
Victor Parra is Roberto, "el Suavecito", the smoothie. Sprinkling his Spanish with slang and English, and sporting a Zoot suit, he's a gangster-wannabe, an obnoxious macho who isn't quite as tough as he likes to make out...
Krystle dos Santos + Dawn Pemberton: Meet Me at Vie's + Union Street
Enjoy a sneak preview of Krystle dos Santos's upcoming musical celebration of the Hogan's Alley Black community in Strathcona, with songs performed by Krystle and Dawn Pemberton, followed by Jamila Pomeroy's documentary Union Street.
