Traffic

Coming from the remote corners of Romania, from the banks of the Danube, Nata and Ginel leave their daughter in the care of her grandmother and set off for Belgium, hoping to earn money and pay off their debts. But once in the West, their plan begins to seem much harder to realize than it did back home. The situation doesn’t exactly improve when Iță, a petty criminal from their village, shows up. After visiting a Belgian art museum, Iță starts entertaining ideas about how to get his hands on some really big money.

Directed by Belgian-Romanian filmmaker Teodora Mihai, this genre hybrid skillfully weaves together elements of heist film, social drama, and black comedy. Beneath it all lies a sobering reminder of the neocolonial structures of exploitation that still persist within the European Union.

The screenplay, partly inspired by real events, was written by Romanian cinema master Cristian Mungiu, who also produced the film. The award-winning lead role is played by Anamaria Vartolomei—of Romanian descent and currently enjoying a meteoric rise in France—who also stars in a key role in Laura Wandel’s drama Adam’s Sake.

Mickael Suominen