Libertate

Tudor Giurgiu's 2023 Romanian film is set in Sibiu in December 1989. With the crowds in the streets, a militia unit comes under attack; among soldiers, militiamen and security agents nobody knows who is on whose side, and it turns into a bloody confrontation. At the centre is a swimming pool where those detained are held. Hundreds were kept there for days; nobody knows why they are there, and news that the regime has fallen spreads outside. The film does not celebrate the revolution. The question of who was right stays unanswered and nobody was held responsible afterwards; the narrative takes that uncertainty as its subject. The production rests on a real event. Who it's for: those who like Romanian cinema and narratives of the revolution. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a clear account of history; the film deliberately leaves who did what unresolved and the violence is harsh.