''The Way I Spent the End of the World'' ( ro, Cum mi-am petrecut sfârșitul lumii) is the feature-length film debut of

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

director

Cătălin Mitulescu Cătălin Mitulescu (; born 13 January 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian film director. He graduated from the Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest in 2001. He is best known for the short film ''Trafic (2004 film), Trafic'' ...

. It was released on September 15, 2006.

Synopsis

The film is about 17-year-old Eva and 7-year-old Lilu, a sister and brother living 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 ...

during the final years of the communist regime of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

. After Eva is expelled from her high school for her uncooperative attitude, she is sent to a technical school where she meets Andrei, with whom she plans to escape

communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...

by swimming across the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

into

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and relocating to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Lilu and his friends, meanwhile, volunteer for a children's choir scheduled to sing for Ceaușescu, hoping this will give them a chance to assassinate the dictator.

Cast and characters

The Matei family

Dorotheea Petre Dorotheea Petre (born 9 January 1981) is a Romanian actress. She won a special jury award for best actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 for her performance as Eva Matei in ''The Way I Spent the End of the World''. Early life She graduated ...

as Eva Matei * Timotei Duma as Lalalilu Matei *

Carmen Ungureanu ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

as Maria Matei *

Mircea Diaconu Mircea Diaconu (; born 24 December 1949) is a Romanian actor, writer, and politician. First appearing on stage in 1970, and on screen two years later, Diaconu pursued a lengthy career in both formats, working with a series of prominent directors ...

as Grigore Matei *

Jean Constantin Jean Constantin (; born Constantin Cornel Jean; 21 August 1927 – 26 May 2010) was a well-known Romanian comedian of Greek ethnicity. Constantin was born in Techirghiol, and died in Constanța. Filmography *' (2010) .... Agârbiceanu *''Vin ...

as Uncle Florică

Lilu's friends

Valentino Marius Stan Valentino may refer to People * Valentino (surname), including a list of people with the name * Valentino (given name), including a list of people with the name Mononymous persons * Valentino (fashion designer) (born Valentino Clemente Ludovic ...

as Tarzan *

Marian Stoica Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

as Silvică

Eva's friends

Cristian Văraru Cristian is the Romanian and Spanish form of the male given name Christian. In Romanian, it is also a surname. Cristian may refer to: People * Cristian (footballer, born 1994), Brazilian footballer * Cristian Adomniței (born 1975), Romanian en ...

as Andrei, Eva's friend *

Ionuț Becheru Ionuț is a Romanian masculine given name. The English equivalent is Johnny. Notable persons with that name include: * Ionuț Andrei (born 1985), Romanian bobsledder * Ionuț Badea (born 1975), Romanian footballer * Ionuț Bălan (born 1978), ...

as Alexandru Vomică, Eva's boyfriend

Others

Valentin Popescu Valentin is a male given name meaning "strong, healthy, power, rule, terco". It comes from the Latin name ''Valentinus'', as in Saint Valentin. Commonly found in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Latin America ...

as the music teacher * Grigore Gonta as Ceaușică *

Florin Zamfirescu Florin Zamfirescu (; born 12 April 1949) is a Romanian theatre and film actor and director, and university professor. Zamfirescu was born in Călimănești, Vâlcea County; his grandfather, Gheorghe Zamfirescu, was mayor of the town. He graduated ...

as the school director * Monalisa Basarab as choir teacher * Corneliu Țigancu as Bulba * Nicolae Enache Praida as Titi

Awards

* Dorotheea Petre - Premiul de interpretare feminină (Female actor award) * Dorotheea Petre -

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

Award for Best Actress,

2006 Cannes Film Festival The 59th Cannes Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 May 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official selection Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the ...

Alternative titles

* Comment j'ai fêté la fin du monde (French title) * How I Celebrated the End of the World (alternative translation)