11 · 05 · 12

Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur at the 10th FICM

The actresses, who won the Best Actress Award at Cannes 2012, spoke very openly and in good Spanish, to a packed theater. Beyond the Hills, written by Cristian Mungiu and adapted from the non-fiction work Dupa dealuri by Tatiana Niculescu Bran, also received an award for Best Screenplay at Cannes.

Daniela Michel, general director of FICM, praised the talent of the invited guests and talked about the close relationship between the Rumanian director and the festival. Mungiu attended FICM for the first time in 2007 to present his film 4 luni, 3 saptamani, si 2 zile (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, 2007). A year later, he returned to Morelia as a member of the jury for the Mexican Feature Film section. His experience inspired him to suggest a selection of Rumanian films to present the following year at the festival.

Beyond the Hills is about the relationship between two friends who grew up together in an orphanage, but later separated because of the different paths they chose to take. Years later, Alina (Cristina Flutur) visits the monastery where Voichita (Cosmina Stratan) lives and tries to convince her childhood friend to leave the country with her. But the differences in their religious beliefs affect their friendship.