Synopsis

Eighteen-year-old Delia travels from a small Romanian town to Bucharest after winning a car in a soft-drink promotion. To receive the prize, she must appear in a commercial proclaiming her happiness. As the filming drags on under the heat and pressure of the crew, disagreements with her parents over the car expose deeper tensions within the family.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film grew from a real-life incident recalled by its filmmaker. It was initially conceived as a short film, but the story was later expanded into a feature with co-writer Augustina Stanciu.

• It was the filmmaker's first feature and premiered in the Forum section of the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the CICAE Award.

• The film also received FIPRESCI recognition at the Sofia International Film Festival and IndieLisboa, as well as a screenplay prize at the Bucharest International Film Festival.

• The production was shaped by advertising culture. Repeated takes, commercial slogans and the demand for an artificially cheerful performance turn the shoot itself into the film's central pressure chamber.

• The movie was produced as a Romania-Netherlands co-production and is commonly associated with the Romanian New Wave for its restrained style, observational pacing and focus on social tensions.