12:08 East of Bucharest (2006)

Original title

A fost sau n-a fost?

Directed by

Corneliu Porumboiu

Genre

comedy film

Country

Romania

Runtime

1h 29m

Rated

18

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 123 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A small town in Romania debates whether it played any role in the 1989 revolution. A local TV host invites two guests to discuss the events that led to the dictator's flight. Their conversation becomes a funny and awkward look at memory, pride, and the gap between big history and small everyday life.

thoughtfulquietly comicreflectiveslow-pacedwryunderstatedconversationalslightly melancholy

What happens

12:08 East of Bucharest (Romanian: A fost sau n-a fost?; lit. 'Was it or was it not?') is a 2006 Romanian film directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, released in 2006 and winner of the Caméra d'Or Prize (for best first film) at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also released in the United States under the abridged titles East of Bucharest and 12:08 Bucharest. The film is set in a small Romanian town far away from the capital city of Bucharest, and centers on a group of characters who revisit the Romanian Revolution of 1989 which brought an end to the communist regime. The full English title refers to the setting of the film and the time of day at which Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu fled following the revolution, 12:08 pm on 22 December 1989. The original Romanian title roughly translates to "Was it, or was it not?", referring to the film's central issue: did Vaslui have any part in the 1989 revolution? The answer depends on whether the city registered any protest before the moment of Ceaușescu's flight. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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