Exclusive Poster for Radu Jude's Kontinental ’25 Premiere at Berlinale Pays Tribute to Roberto Rossellini

      Following a significant 2024 marked by the U.S. release of his sharp satire *Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World*—which secured a place in our top 10—and the debut of two smaller, experimental films, Romanian director Radu Jude is preparing for an exciting 2025. His upcoming *Dracula* film is set to be released before the end of the year, but first, *Kontinental ’25* will have its world premiere in competition at the 2025 Berlinale. Debuting next Wednesday, the film begins with a bailiff making a disastrous effort to evict an elderly man from an abandoned building and follows her as she navigates the meaning of being both Romanian and European in 2025. Ahead of the premiere, we are thrilled to exclusively unveil the first poster.

      Radu Jude shared insights on the poster's design: “We see the poster as part of the film's mise-en-scène, created in the same spirit as the film itself: low-budget and DIY. More than the film, the poster pays tribute to *Europe ’51* by Roberto Rossellini—the film that inspired ours.”

      Here is the synopsis: “Cluj, Transylvania. After being expelled from his makeshift home in a cellar, a homeless man takes his own life. Orsolya, the bailiff responsible for the eviction, feels compelled to confront her guilt. Blending drama and comedy, the film addresses a variety of issues including the housing crisis, post-socialist economics, nationalism, and the influence of language on social status, all examined with a sharp, absurdist lens. It serves as a partial homage to Rossellini’s *Europa ’51*, particularly in the modest approach of this independent, low-budget production. However, while Rossellini's film depicts a woman's moral awakening leading to meaningful action, in this narrative, the protagonist struggles to find understanding, becoming increasingly desperate for external validation. This complexity could easily warrant criticism, but Orsolya's moral ambivalence strikingly reflects a contemporary malaise from which few can escape.”

      Check out the exclusive poster reveal below, alongside a recent discussion where Martin Scorsese praised Jude, stating, “He’s something else. Particularly *Aferim!*, shot in black and white, and another that may not appeal to everyone, *Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World*. That one is shocking—it combines political themes, cinema, morality, and immorality, throwing it all onto the screen before fracturing it into a thousand pieces, and suddenly, you perceive the world in a new light.”