
Film director Cristian Mungiu is collaborating, for his newest project, with the American actor of a Romanian origin, Sebastian Stan, who was recently nominated for an Academy (Oscar) Award, in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role category, for his portrayal of Donald Trump in „The Apprentice,” after already winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his part in the other film in which he was involved last year, „A Different Man.”
The shooting for the new movie – „Fjord” – mainly take place in Norway, featuring actors from Denmark, Sweden and Romania.
Cristian Mungiu talked to AGERPRES about how he met Sebastian Stan, the idea behind this new film, and when he believes the film will be ready to reach the cinema halls.
„In making a film, it’s easier to say when you start than when you finish. A lot of the process depends on the actors’ schedules, on the weather, on how long it takes to prepare the special effects and how-long the post-production takes. (…) Right now the most probable is that the film will be screened for the large audience in 2026, but we will know better after we finish shooting,” Mungiu said.
He also revealed that, as soon as he finishes working on „Fjord,” he will start working on another of his projects, „Amintiri din Epoca de Aur 3” [Tales from the Golden Age 3].
AGERPRES: You are working on a new film, which is titles „Fjord,” what is the movie about?
Cristian Mungiu: Through the story that I tell in „Fjord” I continue to question and bring into the conversation the different aspects of the global society of today, in which people coming from very different cultures and with very different educational backgrounds intersect, people who need to communicate and coexist together, which is not always that easy. I looked into this relation between the individual with the atavistic part of himself in „RMN,” and I’ve searched for an explication for the reasons behind East Europeans’ self-identification with the victims of Western colonialism in „Traffic/The Heist of the Century,” and now, in „Fjord”, I question the causes that led to the extreme polarization in our world today. Our society is divided, not just the Romanian one, but the Occidental one, in its whole, and it’s not just about ideology or social classes, but it is also about the substantial differences in education, culture, wealth, history and religion. Today, in an age when we theoretically ask for tolerance and individual freedom, we are in fact incapable of assimilating others’ views on society and private life.
AGERPRES: Actor Sebastian Stan will be one of your leading actors in the new movie. How was your first meeting with Sebastian Stan and how did you convince him to accept the role that you proposed? And which role he is going to play?
Cristian Mungiu: Sebastian first came to the screening of my movie „Bacalaureat” [Baccalaureate] at the New York Film Festival, back in 2016. I remember meeting him there because his mother made an effort that day to drive 300 miles just to make it possible for Sebastian and me to chat a little after the screening. We did chat and we stayed in touch, waiting for a day when we could find a project to work together on.
A few years later, I invited Sebastian as a guest to the American Independent Film Festival, and that was his first meeting with the Romanian audience. A very warm encounter, I would say, even if he was not as famous back then as he is today. We continued to talk and to look for opportunities to collaborate even before „Fjord”, but we couldn’t do it, out of various reasons. However, last year, ever since I started to write this story for „Fjord” I felt like the role was a fit for Sebastian. I wrote to him, we chatted a little, and when I had the first draft I send it to him, he read it and agreed to work together. Sebastian is playing the role of a father who is in search for the best options for the education of his children in a fast changing society.
AGERPRES: How is your collaboration going with Sebastian Stan?
Cristian Mungiu: In relation to this I will be able to say more after we shoot the movie. For now we haven’t been able to meet that often in person because Sebastian still has a lot of promotion to do after the two remarkable films he was in last year. However, we did go through the script a couple of times together, and together with his partner in the film, Renate Reinsve, and we did talk about the character and his biography. I also exposed Sebastian to different experiences he had to have in order to know what were the values and beliefs of the character he will play and we tried a few looks and outfits.
AGERPRES: What is the subject of the film and when does the shooting start?
Cristian Mungiu: The shooting will mainly take place in Norway. The film starts from the relation between two families with children that come to live as neighbours in a very small locality, and this proximity makes them reflect more on the limits of personal freedom, the fluid border between the authority of the family and that of the society, as well as on the relation between one’s personal values and the social norms.
AGERPRES:
Who are the other actors?
Cristian Mungiu: Renate Reinsve will play Sebastian’s wife in the film, and there are several actors from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and also from Romania.
AGERPRES: You said that shooting could start in March and that you could finish in May. When do you thing that the film will reach its audience?
Cristian Mungiu: In making a film it’s easier to say when you start than when you finish. A lot of the process depends on the actors’ schedules, on the weather, on how long it takes to prepare the special effects and how-long the post-production takes. Right now we are about to conclude a new series of partnerships for the production of the film, which will offer us as much creative freedom as possible. The most probable, I would say, is that the movie will be screened in 2026, but we will know better after we finish with the shooting. Many things depend on the date when we will be able to start shooting for „Amintiri din Epoca de Aur 3”, a film that I hope I will be able to start working on as soon as possible after I finish shooting „Fjord.”