SCHEDULE![]()
19:30
Opening Gala BIFF 2024
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME
Director: Bogdan Mureşanu
Time: 2h 18 min
It is a tragicomedy whose action unfolds in a single day, before the Revolution of 1989, in which the characters search for normality, safety, love, freedom, and meaning in an absurd world fueled by fear.
SECTION: COMPETITION
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
Friday, September 20th
18:30
Muzeul Țăranului Român
SEPTEMBER SAYS
Director: Ariane Labed
Time: 1h 40m
When September is suspended from their school, her sister July begins to assert her own independence. Tension in the family builds on holiday Ireland as a series of surreal encounters test them all to their limit.
SECTION: COMPETITION
20:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
WHERE ELEPHANTS GO
Director: Cătălin Rotaru, Gabi Virginia Sarga
Time: 1h 55m
Nine-year-old Leni and childlike intellectual Marcel, who is 23, kick around Bucharest in a joyous adventure, unruffled by the dark sides of life.
SECȚIUNE: AUTORI ROMÂNI
18:30
Cinema Union
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Time: 2h 48min
Investigating Judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.
SECTION: PANORAMA
18:00
Cinema Eforie
COMME LE FEU
Director: Philippe Lesage
Time: 2h 35m
Jeff is invited by his friend Max to travel deep in the woods and stay at the isolated estate of acclaimed director Blake Cadieux. He has high expectations for the trip: Cadieux is an artist he greatly admires – plus Aliocha, Max’s older sister, with whom he is secretly in love, is also coming. The untouched and hostile forest and the director’s huge cabin become the territory where the youthful search for ideals and freedom confronts the wounded egos of the adults.
SECTION: RETROSPECTIVE PHILIPPE LESAGE
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
Saturday, September 21st
18:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
LA HOJARASCA
Director: Macu Machín
Time: 1h 12m
Three sisters living on Canary Islands find their routines transformed by a sense of magic and meditation. Each sister copes in her own way without a breadwinner expressing themselves through their body mixing realism and fantasy.
SECTION: COMPETITION
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
20:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
STRANGER EYES
Director: Siew Hua Yeo
Time: 2h 5m
A man obsessively searches for his missing daughter after receiving disturbing videos exposing his secrets, leading to a chilling confrontation with the voyeur.
SECTION: COMPETITION
18:30
Cinema Union
SEPTEMBER SAYS
Director: Ariane Labed
Time: 1h 40m
When September is suspended from their school, her sister July begins to assert her own independence. Tension in the family builds on holiday Ireland as a series of surreal encounters test them all to their limit.
SECTION: COMPETITION
*Replay
20:30
Cinema Union
THE SPARROW IN THE CHIMNEY
Director: Ramon Zürcher
Time: 1h 57m
The stark personality differences between sisters Karen and Jule become apparent as their families come together for a birthday party.
SECTION: PANORAMA
18:00
Cinema Eforie
MR. BLAKE AT YOUR SERVICE
Director: Gilles Legardinier
Time: 1h 40m
When Mr. Blake, a widower of late, turns up at the Domaine de Beauvillier estate, everyone – the manor itself, along with its owner and staff – are all just as badly off as he is! But unlike Mr. Blake, who has come to this familiar abode merely to collect his thoughts, the other protagonists are in the throes of tackling their respective personal problems. The arrival of this very British guest acts as a trigger, spurring them back to life.
SECTION: PANORAMA
20:00
Cinema Eforie
HORS DU TEMPS
Director: Olivier Assayas
Time: 1h 45m
During COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, two married couples quarantine together in a country house, leading to rising tensions and revelations about their relationships.
SECTION: PANORAMA
Sunday, September 22nd
16:00
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Time: 2h 48min
Investigating Judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.
SECTION: PANORAMA
*Replay
19:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
TOVARĂȘU’: FACEREA, GLORIA ȘI DESFACEREA UNUI DICTATOR
Director:Trevor Poots
Time: 2h 20m
The documentary tells the life story of Nicolae Ceaușescu, a peasant’s son who managed to become the most powerful man in Romania. The film reveals the secrets of one of the most controversial dictators, secrets that the communist regime kept hidden for 25 years.
SECTION: HISTORY AND CINEMA
18:30
Cinema Union
CLARA
Director: Sabin Dorohoi
Time: 1h 23m
A young Romanian woman leaves her homeland and her child to earn money in Germany – by looking after the daughter of a German family. Clara becomes the mother of two children, one in this foreign country, one, painfully neglected, at home.
SECTION: ROMANIAN AUTHORS
20:30
Cinema Union
SLOW
Director: Marija Kavtaradze
Time: 1h 48m
Dancer Elena and sign language interpreter Dovydas meet and form a beautiful bond. As they dive into a new relationship, they must navigate how to build their own kind of intimacy.
SECȚIUNE: PANORAMA
18:00
Cinema Eforie
GOOD ONE
Director: India Donaldson
Time: 1h 30m
During a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills, 17-year-old Sam navigates the clash of egos between her father and his oldest friend.
SECTION: COMPETITION
20:00
Cinema Eforie
BLACK DOG
Director: Hu Guan
Time: 1h 46m
On the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, Lang returns to his hometown after being released from jail. While working for the local dog patrol team to clear the town of stray dogs before the 2008 Olympic Games, he strikes up an unlikely connection with a black dog. These two lonely souls now embark on a new journey together.
SECTION: COMPETITION
Monday, September 23rd
18:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
GOOD ONE
Director: India Donaldson
Time: 1h 30m
During a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills, 17-year-old Sam navigates the clash of egos between her father and his oldest friend.
SECTION: COMPETITION
*Replay
20:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
ARMAND
Director: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
Time: 1h 57m
Armand, a 6-year-old boy, is accused of crossing boundaries against his best friend at elementary school.
SECTION: COMPETITION
18:30
Cinema Union
GENÈSE
Director: Philippe Lesage
Time: 2h 10m
Three teenagers are shaken up by their first loves in the turmoil of their youth. At a time when others are conforming, they stand their ground and assert their right to love and be free.
SECTION: PHILIPPE LESAGE RETROSPECTIVE
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
18:00
Cinema Eforie
VIET AND NAM
Director: Minh Quy Truong
Time: 2h 9m
In the underground coal mines, Nam and Viet, young miners, face danger and darkness. One prepares to leave for a new life, but they must find Nam’s father’s remains, a soldier lost in a faraway forest, retracing the past through memories.
SECȚIUNE: COMPETIȚIE
*Reluare
20:00
Grădina cu Filme
MR. BLAKE AT YOUR SERVICE
Director: Gilles Legardinier
Time: 1h 40m
When Mr. Blake, a widower of late, turns up at the Domaine de Beauvillier estate, everyone – the manor itself, along with its owner and staff – are all just as badly off as he is! But unlike Mr. Blake, who has come to this familiar abode merely to collect his thoughts, the other protagonists are in the throes of tackling their respective personal problems. The arrival of this very British guest acts as a trigger, spurring them back to life.
SECTION: PANORAMA
*Replay
Tuesday, September 24th
18:00
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
BLUE SUN PALACE
Director: Constance Tsang
Time: 1h 56m
A sudden violent experience catalyzes an unlikely bond between two migrants in the Chinese community of Queens. Navigating lives far from home and the painstaking labor that supports them, they journey through sorrow together in hopes of finding family.
SECTION: COMPETITION
20:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
SLOW
Director: Marija Kavtaradze
Time: 1h 48m
Dancer Elena and sign language interpreter Dovydas meet and form a beautiful bond. As they dive into a new relationship, they must navigate how to build their own kind of intimacy.
SECTION: PANORAMA
*Replay
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
18:30
Cinema Union
STRANGER EYES
Director: Siew Hua Yeo
Time: 2h 5m
A man obsessively searches for his missing daughter after receiving disturbing videos exposing his secrets, leading to a chilling confrontation with the voyeur.
SECȚIUNE COMPETIȚIE
*Reluare
20:00
Grădina cu Filme
HORS DU TEMPS
Director: Olivier Assayas
Time: 1h 45m
During COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, two married couples quarantine together in a country house, leading to rising tensions and revelations about their relationships.
SECȚIUNE: PANORAMA
*Reluare
Wednesday, September 25th
18:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
ETERNAL
Director: Ulaa Salim
Time: 1h 39m
An earthquake causes a mysterious fracture on the ocean floor, which accelerates climate change.
SECTION: PANORAMA
20:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME
Director: Bogdan Mureşanu
Time: 2h 18 min
It is a tragicomedy whose action unfolds in a single day, before the Revolution of 1989, in which the characters search for normality, safety, love, freedom, and meaning in an absurd world fueled by fear.
SECTION: COMPETITION
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
*REPLAY
20:00
Grădina cu Filme
LA HOJARASCA
Director: Macu Machín
Time: 1h 12m
Three sisters living on Canary Islands find their routines transformed by a sense of magic and meditation. Each sister copes in her own way without a breadwinner expressing themselves through their body mixing realism and fantasy.
SECTION: COMPETITION
*Replay
Thursday, September 26th
18:00
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
HISTORY OF LOVE
Director: Radu Mihăileanu
Time: 2h 14m
(based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Nicole Krauss)
New York, 21st century. Leo, an old Polish Jewish immigrant, lives with the memory of his great love.
SECTION: RADU MIHĂILEANU RETROSPECTIVE
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
20:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
BLUE SUN PALACE
Director: Constance Tsang
Time: 1h 56m
A sudden violent experience catalyzes an unlikely bond between two migrants in the Chinese community of Queens. Navigating lives far from home and the painstaking labor that supports them, they journey through sorrow together in hopes of finding family.
SECTION: COMPETITION
*Replay
20:00
Grădina cu Filme
LES DEMONS
Director: Philippe Lesage
Time: 1h 58m
Montréal is in the midst of a series of kidnappings of young boys, and Félix, at ten, is just finishing up the year at school. Gradually, his “imaginary demons” start to reflect those of the remarkably troubling and disruptive world around him.
SECTION: PHILIPPE LESAGE RETROSPECTIVE
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
Friday, September 27th
18:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
ARMAND
Director: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
Time: 1h 57m
Armand, a 6-year-old boy, is accused of crossing boundaries against his best friend at elementary school.
SECTION: COMPETITION
*Replay
20:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
TRENUL VIEȚII
Director: Radu Mihăileanu
Time: 1h 43m
One evening in 1941, Schlomo, the village madman, brings terrible news to his fellow citizens of the Shtetl (Jewish village in Eastern Europe). They will all disguise themselves either as deportees or as train conductors, German officers, or soldiers, trying to save themselves.
SECTION: RADU MIHĂILEANU RETROSPECTIVE
(Screening followed by a Q&A session)
19:30
Grădina cu Filme
THE ENIGMS OF HISTORY
Director: Marin Dinescu
Time: 1h 32m
Episode 1: THE BRUCKENTHAL MUSEUM ROBBERY
Episode 2: The Maglavit Miracle
Episode 3: The death of Mihai Eminescu
Episode 4: THE MYSTERY OF THE OSTARA YACHT
SECTION: HISTORY AND CINEMA
Saturday, September 28th
16:00
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
BLACK DOG
Director: Hu Guan
Time: 1h 46m
On the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, Lang returns to his hometown after being released from jail. While working for the local dog patrol team to clear the town of stray dogs before the 2008 Olympic Games, he strikes up an unlikely connection with a black dog. These two lonely souls now embark on a new journey together.
SECTION: COMPETITION
*Replay
18:30
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
MAESTRUL ȘI MARGARETA
Director: Michael Lockshin
Time: 2h 37m
A writer’s novel is banned and play canceled. He then conceives a satirical novel where a devil-like character metaphorically revenges those responsible. Knowing it cannot be published, his muse Margarita pushes him to write it anyway.
SECTION: PANORAMA
(Screening preceded by a special event and followed by a Q&A session)
20:00
Grădina cu Filme
ETERNAL
Director: Ulaa Salim
Time: 1h 39m
An earthquake causes a mysterious fracture on the ocean floor, which accelerates climate change.
SECTION: PANORAMA
Sunday, September 29th
19:30
Closing Gala BIFF 2024
Cinema Muzeul Țăranului
MY FAVORITE CAKE
Director: Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaeeha
Time: 1h 37m
Seventy-year-old Mahin, solitary until now, chooses to revive her love life. A chance encounter becomes an unforgettable evening, with an unexpected twist.
SECTION: PANORAMA