A small room. A young woman asleep in bed. She’s rudely awoken by her sister, other people enter. There’s no privacy, everyone is shouting. The tension, unpredictability and latent aggression that define the atmosphere of #Blue Moon# are immediately palpable. In her powerful feature-length debut, actor and screenwriter Alina Grigore follows 20-something Irina as she struggles to escape the confines of outdated patriarchal structures.

Her family runs an attractive hotel resort in a stunning mountain location. Other obscure business activities keep the brood busy, and Irina and her sister are relied upon to help out. Their father disappeared off to London years ago, now they await his visit. The young women are desperate to leave. Irina wants to go to Bucharest to study – or, more likely, to escape the mayhem and noise of this deeply dysfunctional home. She thinks an affair with a married artist might help her escape. But her uncle, cousin, the entire clan don’t want to let her go.
The sound design and visuals of this sociogram about powerlessness and impotence, post-communist trauma, control and (sexual) violence creep into our every pore. The restless camera, always honing in on the characters, dips and turns; we hear thumps and hammering sounds. Set against this contrastingly beautiful landscape, we witness Irina’s subtle transformation from victim to perpetrator.

Awards for Crai nou
Best Film – San Sebastian International Film Festival 2021

Guest: Ioana Chitu

This film has been nominated for the Audience Award endowed with 1,000 euro. Please vote after watching the movie.
You can find an overview of all nominated films here.