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Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Special Events

  • Wed Dec 3 : 

    Opening night of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema 2025 at 6:30

    Buy Tickets

SHOWTIMES AT IFC CENTER

Cristian Mungiu (4

Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) penned this loose adaptation of the notorious

2012 art robbery, where Romanian migrants stole paintings by Monet, Gauguin,

and Picasso, among others, from a Dutch museum and later burned them to conceal

their tracks.

Much like Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind, TRAFFIC

strips the heist of all glamour; the crime is clumsy and anti-spectacular,

serving as a strangely empathetic act of revenge for their misery as invisible,

second-rate citizens. The ultimate irony of this social-realistic dramedy—the

source of the film’s absurd humor—lies in the East-West cultural clash: the

thieves, mistaking the Matisse for a “Matiz” car, realize the masterpieces are

functionally worthless to them, a paradox guaranteeing their poverty persists.

Featuring the magnetic Anamaria Vartolomei (seen this year in Mickey 17),

Romania’s Oscar submission is a tragicomic yet pointed reflection on class,

migration, and injustice.

Screening as part of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema


  • Country Romania, Belgium, Netherlands
  • Language Romanian and Dutch withe English subtitles, English
  • Year 2024
  • Running Time 119 minutes
  • Format DCP
  • Director Teodora Ana Mihai
  • Cast Anamaria Vartolomei, Ionut Niculae
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.