Two young filmmakers document the days surrounding the funeral of Romaniaβs former president Ion Iliescu, confronting the voices of mourners and protesters to uncover how the unresolved past continues to shape the present.
Description
Following the death of former Romanian President Ion Iliescu, one of the most controversial figures in the country’s recent history and a key political leader during the 1989 Revolution and the post-communist transition, two young filmmakers in their twenties set out with a camera to capture how a society confronts its own memory. Outside the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, they collect testimonies from people who have come to pay their final respects to the former president. On the day of the funeral, they also document the voices of protesters who challenge his political legacy and continue to hold the power structures associated with his presidency responsible for the violence and injustices of the early 1990s.
As these opposing perspectives unfold, the documentary becomes more than a record of a historical eventβit is the portrait of a generation that did not experience the Revolution firsthand but is trying to understand how the past continues to shape the present. Between tribute and protest, memory and oblivion, the film explores the divide between generations and asks a fundamental question: when does a chapter of history truly come to an end?
