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
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
In 2093, a filmmaker arrives in the African village of Umata, where he meets Princess Mumbi, a woman torn between love, legacy, and the future of storytelling. It's a fabulous genre-blending fable about memory, invention and cinematic resistance.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.