HORIA

Restless teenager Horia takes off on his father’s old motorbike in a cross-country journey to reunite with his love. On the road, he is joined by Stela, a sassy 13-year-old, and an unlikely friendship blooms. “For me,” Ana-Maria Comănescu explains, ”HORIA’s story is about adventure, discoveries and friendship. The film’s atmosphere is colorful, lively, sunny, filled with music, lots of landscapes and endless roads, in a Romanian modern reinterpretation of the American road movies of the 1960s and 1970s.”

Director Ana-Maria Comănescu

Ana-Maria Comănescu is a Romanian screenwriter and director based in Bucharest. She made three short films during her studies at the National University of Theatre and Cinema in Bucharest (UNATC), all screened and awarded in various European student film festivals.  While writing and developing her debut feature project, HORIA, she participated in multiple film workshops and pitching markets, such as Sarajevo Talents in 2017 and MIDPOINT Feature Launch in 2019. In 2022, she started her Ph.D. in Cinema and became an assistant professor of Directing at UNATC.

Awards: Two nominations: at 2024 Sofia International Film Festival for Grand Prix in the International Competition; and at 2024 Transilvania International Film Festival for Best Feature Film in the Romanian Days Award section.