“Kontinental ’25”, interview with director Radu Jude and actress Eszter Tompa

February 22, 2025

Radu Jude is back at the Berlinale with Kontinental ’25 where he explores guilt and moral dilemmas mixing comedy and tragedy.

“Kontinental ’25”, interview with director Radu Jude and actress Eszter Tompa Chiara Nicoletti

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Romanian director Radu Jude is back in the Berlinale competition with “Kontinental ’25“.

After winning the Golden Bear in 2021 with “Bad Luck Banging“ or “Loony Porn“, the director is again depicting social and political issues in present-day Romania but with a different angle.

The film blends a sense of tragedy with elements of comedy while exploring also ethical issues like the feeling of guilt and the moral dilemma.

With Eszter Tompa in the role of a bailiff feeling extremely guilty because an homeless man she evicted, killed himself, the film gets its inspiration from “Europe ’51” by Roberto Rossellini and “Psycho“ by Alfred Hitchcock.

As it narrated a woman consumed by guilt, searching for redemption, Europe ’51 was the catalyst for the development of Kontinental ’25”s plot.

Psycho instead, was fundamental for the structure of the film, as the film changed its perspective and its protagonist, from the “victim” to the “killer”.

The same thing Jude did by focusing first on the homeless man and then entirely on the bailiff Orsolya.

Plot

Orsolya is a bailiff in Cluj, the main city in Transylvania. One day she must evict a homeless man who lives in the basement of a building. An unexpected event creates a moral crisis she tries to solve as best she can.

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

Guest

Radu Jude