The Timișoara premieres of Radu Jude’s and Adrian Sitaru’s new films, along with special screenings of award-winning films from Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, complete the lineup for the 13th edition of the Ceau, Cinema! Festival, which will take place in Timișoara from July 15th to July 19th.
The program and tickets are available on our website and on the website of Timișoara’s cinemas. A festival pass can be purchased through the Eventbook platform for 200 lei. It grants access to all festival screenings, subject to advance seat reservation.
Radu Jude’s new film, Journal of a Chambermaid (Journal d’une femme de chambre, 2026), a French-Romanian production, will have a special screening at Cinema Timiș, attended by lead actress Ana Dumitrașcu, who is also a member of this year’s Ceau, Cinema! Competition jury.
Premiering worldwide in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes section of the Cannes Film Festival, the film follows a young Romanian woman living in France who works for a French family and joins a theater troupe adapting Octave Mirbeau’s famous play Journal of a Chambermaid.
Another special screening will feature Adrian Sitaru’s new feature film Rock Paper Scissors (Blindsight, 2025), which won the Best Director award in the Rebel with a Cause section at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
A woman suffers from severe amnesia after an accident and can no longer remember who the people around her are. Reluctantly persuaded by her family to go on a boat trip to Turkey, she begins to feel that the true purpose of the journey becomes increasingly difficult to understand as they approach their destination.
The screening will be followed by an online discussion with director Adrian Sitaru.
The closing gala at Cinema Timiș will include Rose (2026, directed by Markus Schleinzer), a German-Austrian co-production for which renowned actress Sandra Hüller won a Silver Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
Set in the early 17th century, the film follows a soldier who arrives in an isolated Protestant village in Germany, claiming to be the heir to an abandoned farm. Although he proves to be an honest and hardworking man, the villagers grow increasingly suspicious of his true identity, and tensions rise toward an inevitable confrontation.
Presented out of competition at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Magellan (2025) is the latest film by acclaimed Filipino director Lav Diaz. A European co-production between Spain and Portugal, the film follows an idealistic navigator (played by superstar Gael García Bernal) who rebels against the king’s authority, driven by his humanist beliefs and desire for justice. However, when he is given command of the legendary Spice Fleet and embarks on the first voyage around the world, the expedition puts his values, ambitions, and identity to the test.
In the traditional Doc-Sunday section, scheduled for the festival’s final day, audiences will be able to see two of the most acclaimed documentaries of the past year.
Winner of a Special Jury Prize in the Venice Film Festival Competition, Pompeii: Beneath the Clouds (Sotto le nuvole, 2025), directed by acclaimed Italian documentarian Gianfranco Rosi, offers a unique portrait of Naples, a city facing a double volcanic threat from Mount Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei. Against a backdrop of increasingly powerful earthquakes, archaeologists continue their work while residents live with anxiety, haunted by the fate of Pompeii, and emergency services struggle to cope.
Another powerful documentary is If Pigeons Turned to Gold (2026), winner of the Caligari Prize at this year’s Berlinale. Over the course of five years, Czech director Pepa Lubojacki documented the lives of four members of her family, focusing especially on her brother David, who struggles with alcoholism and homelessness. Through a deeply personal collage constructed as a filmed diary, the filmmaker seeks to uncover the roots of a severe addiction.
More information can be found on the festival’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Ceau, Cinema! is a festival dedicated to European cinema, organized by the Pelicula Culturală Association.
Funded by the Municipality of Timișoara through the Project Center.
Additional funding: National Center of Cinematography (CNC).
Sponsors: Groupama Insurance, E.ON Energie România.
International Partners: Oulu International Children’s and Youth Film Festival and Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland).
Partners: Cinema Studio, Cinema Timiș, Cinema Victoria, Cinema Johnny, Animest, the French Institute, the Polish Institute Bucharest, the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest, the German Cultural Center in Timișoara, the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest, the Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, the Embassy of Spain, the Cervantes Institute in Bucharest, the Czech Centre Bucharest, the Social Assistance Directorate of the Municipality of Timișoara, and the House of Arts – Timiș County Directorate for Culture.
Supported by: Lipoplast, Porsche Timișoara, Hotel Savoy, Hotel Do Stil Boutique, Little Hanoi, Vinto, Ovride, Aramic Winery, Prospero, Timișoara Public Transport Company, Cărturești Timișoara, the Something to Say Association, Faber, Ambasada, F-Sides, Timișoara in a Box, the Big Screen Association, Eventbook, and Claudia Roșu.
Media Partners: Visit Timișoara, Kinostetic, Films in Frame, West City Radio, CineFan, Tributary Stu, În Bine.