The 17th edition of Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest, one of the highlights of the autumn film season, opens in Bucharest on Friday.

Between October 23 and November 1, the Cinema Elvire Popesco, the Peasant Museum Cinema, the Auditorium Hall of the National Museum of Art of Romania and Apollo 111 will host this special experience for festival audiences.

Once again, 'Les Films de Cannes' is extending to several other cities across the country: Timisoara, Arad, Oradea, and Iasi. In Timisoara, audiences are invited to Cinema Studio and Cinema Timis from October 22 to 25. The festival continues in Arad, with screenings at Cinema Arta from October 28 to 31. In Oradea, films will be screened at Cinema Palace from October 29 to November 1, and the Crisana Museum (Muzeul Tarii Crisurilor) will host on October 29 a special screening of '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' film, directed by Cristian Mungiu. The festival tour concludes in Iasi, where film enthusiasts are invited to Cinema Ateneu from November 6 to 8.

'Fjord' written and directed by Cristian Mungiu, this year's Palme d'Or winner, will be screened as part of 'Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest' on October 24 at 18:00, in a simultaneous showing across all participating cinemas in Bucharest and the rest of the country. That same evening in Bucharest, the film will also have a gala screening at the Romanian Athenaeum.

The 17th edition of 'Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest' will feature surprise guests and an 'astonishing' documentary. The film 'The Ultra Runner,' directed by Mila Aung-Thwin, documents the remarkable story of Tiberiu Useriu and his participation in the 6633 Arctic Ultra, one of the world's toughest races, covering more than 600 kilometres in extreme Arctic conditions. Through footage from the competition and reconstructions of his past, the film portrays Tiberiu Useriu's struggle against his physical limits and his own past, highlighting his transformation and journey towards a new life. On 25 October, at 19:30, audiences are invited to Apollo 111 Cinema for a screening of the documentary, followed by a special meeting with Tiberiu and Alin Useriu. The two will also be present for a Q&A at the Peasant Museum Cinema on 30 October, at 20:30.

The festival will also screen the major award winners from the Venice Film Festival: 'Woman Unknown,' directed by May el-Toukhy, the winner of the Golden Lion for Best Film; 'Possible Love,' a South Korean drama directed by Lee Chang-dong and winner of the Silver Lion - Grand Jury Prize; '15/18 (A Place to Heal),' a French drama directed by Cedric Kahn, which recently won the Bayard d'Or for Best Film at Le Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actress, awarded to Malou Khebizi; 'Wild Horse Nine,' a political thriller with elements of black comedy directed by Martin McDonagh; and 'Hombre al agua,' directed by Gael Garcia Bernal, an intelligent social comedy attentive to the subtleties of human psychology, exploring themes such as class differences, ambition and the delicate art of social advancement.

The festival will also feature films such as 'Minotaur,' directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes and was selected by France as its entry for the Academy Awards; 'The Dreamed Adventure,' by German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach, which won the Jury Prize, Cannes 2026; 'A Man of His Time,' directed by Emmanuel Marre, winner of the Best Screenplay award at Cannes; 'La Bola Negra,' directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi; 'Fatherland,' directed by Pawel Pawlikowski; 'Soudain,' directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi; 'Coward,' directed by Lukas Dhont; and 'La Gradiva,' Marine Atlan's feature film debut.

Among the special guests at this year's edition are actress India Hair and directors Kirill Serebrennikov, Ali Asgari, Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Rakan Mayasi and Eivind Landsvik. They will attend screenings of their films featured in the festival and take part in meetings with festival audiences.

Moreover, the festival will showcase the latest Romanian films in the Autumn Premieres section, ahead of their cinema releases.

The films screening in the section will include 'You don't belong here,' directed by Florin Serban; 'I matter,' Alina Serban's feature film directorial debut; 'The Uncertainty Principle,' written, directed and produced by Sebastian Badarau; 'Tranzit Times,' directed by Ana Felicia Scutelnicu; and 'Rock-Paper-Scissors (Blindsight),' directed by Adrian Sitaru.

The Peasant Museum Cinema scheduled a programme of five Romanian short films for 25 October at 17:00, followed by discussions with the film teams: 'Trei povesti de noapte buna,' directed by Andreea Chiper; 'Motherhood,' directed by Anca Damian; 'Mi se pare ca o sa se topeasca podeaua,' directed by Vlad Cocieru; 'Mint Liqueur,' directed by Vladut Iosef; and 'In My Dreams or in Yours,' directed by Alma Buhagiar.

The 17th edition of 'Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest' once again hosts Managing Talents, its established programme dedicated to actors from Romania and abroad.

Now in its 11th edition, Managing Talents aims to provide actors with practical training, industry connections and professional opportunities to support their careers both nationally and internationally.

This year's programme includes an Open Casting with Cristian Mungiu, during which selected participants will audition for roles in a new film scheduled to be shot next year.

Participants will also take part in an on-stage Self-Tape workshop and a panel discussion, and benefit from networking opportunities with casting directors, talent agents and internationally renowned industry professionals. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Petronius Craiu; EN - writing by: Rodica State)