The New Year That Never Came
Six lives intertwine in the days leading up to the 1989 Romanian revolution in this darkly funny ensemble film about living under Communist rule. Winner of the 2024 Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Award and the Palm Springs New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize.
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Sunday, May 18, 2025
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Monday, May 19, 2025
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Monday, May 26 - Sunday, June 1, 2025
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In his bravura feature film debut, Bogdan Muresanu interweaves the stories of six people in Romania on the eve of revolution in 1989.
Florina is an actor who is summoned to give a command performance paying homage to President Nicolae Ceaușescu in a nationwide New Year’s Eve broadcast. (She’s substituting for a similar-looking celebrity who has recently defected.) Filled with loathing for the leader, she tries everything she can think of to get out of it. Meanwhile, the producer of the broadcast has other problems. After appearing in a student play mocking the regime, his son is now trying to flee the country with the secret police in hot pursuit. Even the police are not immune to the country’s strife. One of them, by virtue of his position, has managed to get his mother relocated to a new apartment, when her longtime home is being demolished by the government. Determined not to leave, she enlists one of the movers to help her stay put. The mover, meanwhile, fears his young son has inadvertently betrayed him to the authorities in a letter to Santa.
Further enhanced by the integration of archival footage, this darkly funny ensemble piece is a remarkable imagining of the 24 hours before one of the defining historical moments of the 20th century.
- Original Language Title: Anul Nou Care n-a Fost
- Director: Bogdan Mureşanu
- Principal Cast: Adrian Vancica, Iulian Postelnicu, Emilia Dobrin, Nicoleta Hancu, Andrei Miercure, Mihai Calin
- Country: Romania, Serbia
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 138 min.
- Producer: Bogdan Mureșanu, Vanja Kovacevic
- Screenplay: Bogdan Mureșanu
- Cinematographers: Boroka Biro, Tudor Platon
- Editors: Vanja Kovačević, Mircea Lăcătuș
- Website: Official Film Website
- Awards: Venice International Film Festival 2024 (Best Film: Horizons, FIPRESCI Prize), Palm Springs International Film Festival 2025 (New Voices New Visions Prize)
- Filmography: Debut Feature Film
- Language: Romanian
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- Format: DCP
- International Sales: Cercamon