Three restored classic films and a series of special outdoor screenings will be included in the 13th edition of the Ceau, Cinema! Festival, which will take place in Timișoara from July 15th to July 19th.
Three major heritage films will be screened in restored 4K versions at Cinema Timiș. Thirty years after its premiere, Ceau, Cinema! will present Pusher (1996), the explosive directorial debut of Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn. Film lovers will also have the chance to see Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish erotic thriller Matador (1986), four decades after its release.
The classics section also includes Peeping Tom (1960), the cult British film directed by Michael Powell. This celebrated work inspired this year’s Ceau, Cinema! festival poster, created by Timișoara-based artist Andreea Dumuța.
In Pusher, a drug dealer (Kim Bodnia) becomes increasingly desperate after a failed deal leaves him deeply indebted to a ruthless drug lord (Zlatko Burić). The cast also includes Mads Mikkelsen in his first ever feature role.
Matador follows a former champion bullfighter who now runs a bullfighting school. Seeking ever more intense sensations, he feeds his obsessions by watching sadistic videos. A lawyer fascinated by him finds pleasure in seduction and murder, killing men at the moment of orgasm with a hairpin. Their fates seem inevitably intertwined.
The film will be screened at Ceau, Cinema! with support from the Embassy of Spain in Bucharest and the Cervantes Institute.
Peeping Tom is regarded as one of cinema’s masterpieces. Controversial upon release but later recognized as a true cult classic, this horror thriller has been admired by generations of cinephiles. The story follows a young man who murders women while filming their expressions of terror before death.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with film critic Andrei Rus. A book launch will accompany the film, in partnership with the Cărturești library from Timișoara: the Romanian translation of the renowned film studies book Film History: An Introduction (Vellant & UNATC Press, 2024) by Kristin Thompson, David Bordwell, and Jeff Smith – initiated and coordinated by Andrei Rus.
The well-known critic will also curate and present a special program of TikTok videos for Ceau, Cinema!, titled TikTok Fever, in an outdoor screening on the terrace of Cinema Studio.
Also joining the restored films series, Ceau, Cinema! will bring the remastered version of Nae Caranfil’s Dolce far niente (1998), screening for the first time in Timișoara.
The film follows two years in the life of the young Stendhal in Italy. Still known as Henri Beyle, the future writer wanders in search of his place in the world and the meaning of his life. During his travels he meets the famous composer Rossini and the young widow Giuseppina, with whom he falls in love. The film is a humorous and melancholic story about love, betrayal, coming of age, and the complexity of human relationships.
A co-production between Romania, Italy, France, and Belgium, and screened at the Namur and Karlovy Vary film festivals, the film stars acclaimed European actors such as François Cluzet, Isabella Ferrari, Margherita Buy, Giancarlo Giannini, and Pierfrancesco Favino.
Dolce far niente will be shown in a free open-air screening at Queen Maria Park, which this year takes over open-air screenings held earlier in Traian Square, due to ongoing modernization works. Queen Maria Park will also host several recent European films for general audiences under the theme Unleashed Cinema, including The Crime on the Third Floor(Le crime du 3e étage, 2026), a French comedy-thriller directed by Rémi Bezançon and starring Gilles Lellouche and Laetitia Casta, and the Danish dark comedy The Last Viking (2025), directed by Anders Thomas Jensen and featuring Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas.
In The Crime on the Third Floor, an ordinary couple begins spying on their neighbors out of simple curiosity. What initially seems like an innocent game quickly turns into an investigation that is both hilarious and dangerous. As the line between reality and fiction becomes increasingly blurred, they find themselves entangled in a mystery full of twists and turns.
In The Last Viking, Anker is released after serving 14 years in prison for robbery. His brother Manfred is the only person who knows where the stolen money is hidden, but a memory-affecting illness prevents him from recalling the location. Together, the brothers embark on an unexpected journey—not only to recover the money but also to discover who they truly are.
Audiences attending the outdoor screenings in Queen Maria Park, generically called Cine-Picnic, are encouraged to bring their own blankets for sitting on the grass. In case of bad weather, the screenings will be canceled.
More information is available on the festival’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Festival passes can be purchased through the Eventbook platform for 200 lei. The pass grants access to all festival screenings, provided that seats are reserved in advance.
Ceau, Cinema! is a festival dedicated to European cinema, organized by the Pelicula Culturală Association.
Funding: Municipality of Timișoara through the Project Center; National Center of Cinematography (CNC)
Sponsors: Groupama Asigurări, E.ON Energie România
International Partners: Oulu International Children’s and Youth Film Festival; Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
Partners: Cinema Studio, Cinema Timiș, Cinema Victoria, Cinema Johnny, Animest, the French Institute, Polish Institute Bucharest, Italian Cultural Institute Bucharest, German Cultural Center Timișoara, Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest, Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, Embassy of Spain, Cervantes Institute Bucharest, Czech Center Bucharest, Timișoara Social Assistance Directorate, House of Arts – Timiș County Directorate for Culture
Supporting Partners: Lipoplast, Porsche Timișoara, Hotel Savoy, Hotel Do Stil Boutique, Little Hanoi, Ovride, Aramic Winery, Prospero, Timișoara Public Transport Company, Cărturești Timișoara, Ceva de Spus Association, Faber, Ambasada, F-Sides, Timișoara la Cutie, Marele Ecran Association, Eventbook, Claudia Roșu
Media Partners: Visit Timișoara, Kinostetic, Films in Frame, West City Radio, CineFan, Tributary Stu, În Bine.