Cristian Mungiu (; born 27 April 1968) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

. He won the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

2007 Cannes Film Festival The 60th Cannes Film Festival ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. The President of the Jury was British director Stephen Frears. Twenty two films from twelve countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 26 May. ''4 M ...

for his film '' 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'', which he wrote and directed. He has also won the awards for Best Screenplay and

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian director George Miller was the President of the Jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. On 15 Marc ...

s, for his films ''

Beyond the Hills ''Beyond the Hills'' ( ro, După dealuri) is a 2012 Romanian drama film directed by Cristian Mungiu, starring Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan. The narrative follows two young women at an Eastern Orthodox convent in Romania. Plot Two Romania ...

'' and ''

Graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

''.

Early life

Mungiu was born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

. His sister is political analyst

Alina Mungiu-Pippidi Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (; born March 12, 1964) is a Romanian political scientist, academic, journalist and writer. A commentator on national politics, she is one of the civil society activists in post-1989 Romania, and, since 1990, an active contrib ...

. After studying

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the

University of Iaşi The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

, he worked for a few years as a teacher and as a journalist. After that, he enrolled at the University of Film in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

to study film directing. After graduating in 1998, Mungiu made several

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

Career

In 2002, he debuted with his first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, ''

Occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of ''Orient'', the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term ''occidental'' is often used to ...

'', which enjoyed critical success, winning prizes in several

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s and being featured in

Director's Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festi ...

at the

2002 Cannes Film Festival The 55th Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May 2002. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film '' The Pianist'' directed by Roman Polanski. The festival opened with ''Hollywood Ending'', directe ...

. In 2007, Mungiu wrote and directed his second feature, '' 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days''. The film was received enthusiastically, attracting critical praise and being selected in the official competition at the

, where it won the

for feature film, marking the first time that prize was awarded to a Romanian filmmaker. His 2012 film ''

'' was screened in competition at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section. ...

where Mungiu won the award for Best Screenplay and

Cristina Flutur Cristina Flutur is a Romanian film and theatre actress. In 2012 she made her debut in cinema, portraying the complex Alina Ringhis, main character in Cristian Mungiu's praised drama, Beyond the Hills. For her outstanding performance in this fil ...

and

Cosmina Stratan Cosmina Stratan (born 20 October 1984) is a Romanian film actress. She is best known for her performance as Voichița in Beyond the Hills. Selected filmography Awards * Best Actress Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival (with Cristina Flut ...

shared the award for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

. The film was also selected as the Romanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2012 in film, films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, ...

, making the January shortlist. In 2013, he produced the next film of Nae Caranfil, ''6.9 on Richter''. In April 2013, he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...

. In 2016, he directed a tragedy, ''Graduation'', which premiered at the

. The film was in competition for the

. It did not win, but Mungiu won the award for

. Mungiu was the Jury President of the

Semaine de la Critique Critics' Week (french: link=no, Semaine de la critique), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created in 1962 after the Fre ...

non-competitive section of the

2021 Cannes Film Festival The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after t ...

. At the

2022 Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...

, Munjiu's feature '' R.M.N.'' was selected to compete for the

. The film's coproducers include the

Dardenne brothers Brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne (; born 21 April 1951) and Luc Dardenne (born 10 March 1954), collectively referred to as the Dardenne brothers, are a Belgian filmmaking duo. They write, produce, and direct their films together. The Dardennes b ...

' Les Films du Fleuve.

Influences and style

Mungiu has said that

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

and

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

are important filmmakers who influenced him. He also respects the realism of ''

Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' ( it, Ladri di biciclette; sometimes known in the United States as ''The Bicycle Thief'') is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post- World ...

'', among other famous realistic films.

Awards and nominations

Honours

Romanian Royal Family The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...

: 70th Knight of the Royal Decoration of the Cross of the Romanian Royal HouseCrucea Casei Regale a României
/ref>

Filmography as director

* 2000 ** ''Corul pompierilor'' (short) ** ''Nicio întâmplare'' (short) ** ''Zapping'' (short) * 2002 – ''

'' * 2005 – ''Lost and Found'' - segment ''Turkey Girl'' * 2007 – '' 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' * 2009 – ''

Tales from the Golden Age ''Tales from the Golden Age'' ( ro, Amintiri din epoca de aur) is a 2009 Romanian omnibus film. It was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The film is composed of six whimsical yet blackly comic ...

'' * 2012 – ''

'' * 2016 – ''

'' * 2022 – '' R.M.N.''

References

External links

* * (Romanian
7 scenarii (7 Scripts)
Editura LiterNet - screenplays volume by Cristian Mungiu
interview with ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' director Cristian Mungiu
at -films.net * In-depth analyses o
Mungiu's films
and o
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mungiu, Cristian 1968 births Living people Romanian film directors Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography alumni Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners Directors of Palme d'Or winners European Film Award for Best Director winners Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Film people from Iași Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners

Early life

Career

Influences and style

Awards and nominations

Honours

Filmography as director

See also

References

External links