Artistic indignation at its best, Daneliuc’s anarchic film is the most accurate portrayal of the messy transitions in Romanian society of the 1990s, as seen through the eyes of a movie theater manager who’s going crazy.

A policeman and his son search for a fugitive in this captivating road movie set in 19th-century Romania. A truly unique period film, Radu Jude’s third feature represents the country in this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race.

Unfolding like a fairy tale, this rich, visually captivating documentary about the reality of Jewish life in Romania in the 20th century is not without its dark revelations, including the infamous trade of Romanian Jews to Israel during Ceaușescu’s regime.

Four stories of ordinary yet colorful people caught in extraordinary situations are cleverly interwoven in this funny, bittersweet portrayal of urban life set during a single night in Romania’s chaotic capital city.

Radu Muntean’s simmering anti-thriller, about the internal conflict within a family man who may have witnessed the prelude to a neighbor’s murder, gracefully and economically contends with hard questions of morality and the political resonances of everyday life.

Ten-year-old Toto and his teenage sisters struggle to live on their own and stay pure amid a cruel environment. Shot over several years, with astonishing access to its subjects, this tough yet optimistic HBO-produced documentary is reminiscent of early Ken Loach.

Meticulously researched and crafted, Trading Germans reveals the untold story of one of the largest and most scandalous human-trade mysteries in postwar Europe: how could 246,000 ethnic Germans from Romania have been secretly sold to Germany during the Cold War without anyone else noticing? A mind-blowing and highly emotional experience.

Based on tragic true events, this Sidney Lumet–esque political thriller about one man’s fight with the system finds Tudor Giurgiu in a more serious mode after his crowd-pleasing Of Snails and Men, taking risks in exposing the dirty and sometimes tragic games of Romanian politics.

In this meaner and lower-budget Mean Girls, 16-year-old Larisa struggles to stay afloat after falling for the wrong guy. The small-town world in which good looks and money give power over the less fortunate doesn’t favor the rebellious and stubborn teenager, who lashes out with devastating consequences.

A prizewinner in Cannes and a selection of the New York, Telluride, and Chicago film festivals, Ramona leads this pack of eight internationally recognized shorts, which also includes a kinky animation (Omulan!), a Communist fantasy (Black Friday), and the newest provocative short from Cristi Puiu (Das Spektrum Europas). Screening on loop.

Today, revisiting Nemescu’s posthumous (and newly digitally remastered) feature debut, one thing’s for sure: the seduction and electrifying rock ’n’ roll vitality of this epic farce of carnivalesque proportions—far removed from the stripped-down realism of most of New Romanian Cinema’s big hits—remain unaltered.

Ten years ago, this dark comedy about the lonely 63-year-old Mr. Lăzărescu who feels sick, calls an ambulance, and is then moved around from one hospital to the next, took American critics by storm. It’s time to revisit this seminal title of the Romanian New Wave.

Artistic indignation at its best, Daneliuc’s anarchic film is the most accurate portrayal of the messy transitions in Romanian society of the 1990s, as seen through the eyes of a movie theater manager who’s going crazy.

In Cristi Puiu’s favorite of Daneliuc’s works and the most Altman-esque film ever made in Romania, young winners of various contests from across the country are awarded with a cruise on the Danube. Originally meant as a reward, the trip ends up being a punishment…

In Mircea Daneliuc’s ferocious political satire, Senator Vîrtosu spends the weekend at a guesthouse formerly owned by the Communist Party—and because a leopard cannot change its spots, he still behaves like one of the Party.

Moldovan director Igor Cobileanski’s feature debut captures the dead ends of a youth generation growing up in a place lacking prospects for a better life. This authentic, socially conscious film was based on a script first drafted by Corneliu Porumboiu and shot by master DP Oleg Mutu (The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu). Screening with Raisa (Pavel Cuzuioc, 15m).

An old peasant and his innocent granddaughter sow corn on an island situated in the middle of a conflict zone in this powerful life-and-death fable. Told through captivating imagery and practically without dialogue, this majestic drama won the top prize in Karlovy Vary and was Georgia’s Oscar entry for the Best Foreign Language Film.

Making Waves’s Creative Freedom Through Cinema program continues to examine the relationship between art and politics in Eastern Europe, with a spotlight this year on films from Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.