The Whistlers

Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest) is one of the driving forces behind the Romanian New Wave, a group of directors who present a realistic, razor-sharp picture of the abuses and corruption in post-Ceausescu Romania. Though Porumboiu chose a completely different genre this time – a film noir, including a femme fatale called Gilda – the main theme again is corruption and moral decline.

Police officer Cristi from Bucharest supplements his meagre income by assisting crooked businessman Zsolt in his shady cases – in return for a "fee". Zsolt ends up in prison nevertheless. Together with Zsolt's girlfriend Gilda, Cristi has to find a way to free him. He knows that the police are keeping tabs on him, so he needs a language to communicate without them understanding. He goes to the island of La Gomera in The Canaries with Gilda, to learn El Silbo Gomero – an indigenous whistling language. In the meantime, he has not managed to resist Gilda's charms.