Bucharest Dawn to Dusk (2022)

A day in Bucharest narrated and commented on by 100 inhabitants and tourists, in November 2022. A funny and warm account of Bucharest's main advantages and issues, punctuated with keen insights on everyday life in Romania's largest city. The film starts with a fast-paced illustration of the city rush, then moves on to short inserts of street interviews. Two minutes in, you are hooked by the characters' honesty and genuineness. People narrate without pretense their daily routine and make funny commentaries on what it means to live in Bucharest. LOVE-HATE is the keyword, in terms of what people feel about the city. Nevertheless, the film does not turn into some fastidious conversation about Bucharest's pros and cons but remains true to its original intent - to show the progress of a regular day in the city, by referring to what people actually DO. The illustration is hand-picked for every line of dialogue, showing mostly people minding their own business through the city and unaware that they are being caught on camera. The film ends on a nostalgic note, recapping what people feel about their city and concluding that life in Bucharest is sort of addictive: a city that never sleeps, a city on the move, busy with honks and suffocated by cars, but nevertheless very much alive and attractive.