The New Year That Never Came

Australian Premiere

“Captures the exhilarating impact of history in the making.” - Screen International

It is the 20th of December 1989, and amidst the unrest of the Romanian revolution, Nicolae Ceaușescu’s regime is on its last legs. The army violently suppresses an uprising in Timișoara, but any news that reaches Bucharest is scant and sanitised. In the eye of the storm, six seemingly disconnected lives intersect in unexpected ways.

A distressed theatre actress is called in by the state-sanctioned network to host the New Year's Eve telecast after their star host defects. A student is plotting to flee to Yugoslavia by swimming across the Danube. An officer of the Securitate secret police struggles to move his ailing mother from her soon-to-be-demolished house, and a factory worker’s son writes a letter to Santa revealing his father's anti-Ceaușescu sentiments.

Director Bogdan Mureșanu keeps a tight reign over this sprawling, puzzle-like narrative in this farcical, exhilarating glimpse into a revolution in the making which won three awards at the Venice Film Festival. The ensuing chaos erupts in a fire-keg crescendo which sends our interconnected protagonists on a collision course with history.

Festivals & Awards

Winner – Best Film in the Orizzonti section, International Critics Prize (FIPRESCI Prize) Bisato d'Oro for Best Screenplay, Venice Film Festival 2024