Biography

Cristian Mungiu (Romanian: [kristiˈan munˈdʒi.u]) is a Romanian filmmaker. A figure in the Romanian New Wave, his films usually explore Romania's contemporary society and politics. Mungiu is best known for his Palme d'Or–winning films 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Fjord. For Beyond the Hills and Graduation, he won Best Screenplay and Best Director prizes at the 65th and 69th Cannes Film Festivals, respectively. After studying English literature at the University of Iaşi, he worked for a few years as a teacher and as a journalist. After that, he enrolled at the University of Film in Bucharest to study film directing. After graduating in 1998, Mungiu made several short films. In 2002, he debuted with his first feature film, Occident. Occident enjoyed critical success, winning prizes in several film festivals and being featured in Director’s Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. In 2007 Mungiu wrote and directed his second feature, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The film was received enthusiastically, attracting critical praise and being selected in the official competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, where it eventually won the coveted Palme d'Or for feature film, marking the first time that prize was awarded to a Romanian filmmaker. Mungiu has said that early Miloš Forman and Robert Altman are important filmmakers who influenced him. He also respects the realism of Bicycle Thieves. Mungiu is the brother of political analyst Alina Mungiu-Pippidi.