The New Year That Never Came

What happens in the lives of ordinary people when they face major historical events? How do they cope with the feeling of a disappearing world? These are the questions Romanian director Bogdan Mureșanu explores in his first feature film. In this film, he builds on his 2018 short film Cadoul de Craciun (The Christmas Gift). The big historical event is the 1989 overthrow of the communist regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

The days before Christmas, 1989: on the radio, Romanian citizens hear that it has been another banner year, but everyone knows that in the city of Timisoara an uprising has been bloodily suppressed. Everyone is controlled, everyone fears the Securitate, but everyone also knows that the regime is faltering. Like the dutiful worker Gelu, the widow Margareta, the rebellious teenager Laurentiu and the ambitious stage actress Florina; they don't know each other, but their paths will cross. Award-winning in Venice.