"A buoyant little comedy, (...) in the best tradition of East European humor, savvy but concrete, gentle but sharp as a knife. Porumboiu's (...) camera explores the post-communist world with a wry sense of humor. Hilarious."
Deborah Young, VARIETY

"A delicate satire of the post-communistic delusions."
Thomas Sotinel, LE MONDE

"A mordant Balkan wit."
A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES

"This film is a little masterpiece that deserves much more than the Caméra d'Or. I wish this film from the bottom of my heart to encounter the interest of the audience."
Marco Bellocchio, Director

"This fascinating, whimsical film aptly conveys the nagging suspicion held by those living outside the seats of power, that they are doomed to be bystanders rather than participants in the tumult of politics that seems to grip only their capitals. 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST is hilarious, smart and refreshingly realistic about the ways memory and mythmaking can mold historical truth."
Dimitri Eipides, Director of the Thessaloniki Film Festival

"A grandiose and funny film."
Andreas Rosenfelder, FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG

"Wow! What a funny movie (the entire audience was laughing), and yet so intelligent."
Jacques Morice, TÉLÉRAMA

"A film savoury and cruel. At nine in the morning, the theatre was packed and bowled over with laughter."
Didier Péron, LIBERATION

"It arrives from Romania, one of the first great films of the season, a jewel of humour and melancholy."
Fabio Ferzetti, IL MESSAGGERO

"To my mind, only a broad comedy in the classic Italian tradition could make such an equivalent. (...) Composition, rhythm, dialogue, provocation. His first feature film and this young man seems to know how to do it all. Very promising."
Éric Derobert, POSITIF

"Incredibly funny and its daring, irreverent direction proves to be very effective."
Marie-José Sirach, L'HUMANITÉ

Born in 1975 in Romania, he graduated in 2003 at the Bucharest University of Drama and Film. His short films LIVIU’S DREAM (2003) GONE WITH THE WINE (2002) and A TRIP TO THE CITY (2003) won him several international awards, including a Prix de la Cinéfondation in Cannes 2004. After being a resident of Cinéfondation, he directed  his first feature 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST in 2005, which premiered at the Directors' Fortnight 2006. POLITIST, ADJECTIV premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2009.

FILMOGRAPHY

 
2009 POLICE, ADJECTIVE, Fiction, 115 min.
2006 12:08 EAST OF BUCAREST, Fiction, 89 min.
2004 LIVIU'S DREAM, Fiction, 39 min.
 

PREMIERE

Cannes 2006, Directors' Fortnight

MAIN AWARDS

Cannes 2006, Golden Camera
Cannes 2006, Label Europa Cinemas
Copenhagen 2006, Best Film & Best Screenplay
Cottbus 2006, Special Prize
Zagreb 2006, Jury Award

ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS

Bratislava 2006, Competition
European Film Awards 2006, Best Film & Best Screenwriter
Independent Spirit Awards 2007, Best Foreign Film