LFF 2016 PREVIEW: GRADUATION

'Cristian Mungiu [is] one of the leading European filmmakers of the day... Graduation [is] his most mature film to date'
Dan Fainaru, Screen Daily

'A beautifully crafted work of storytelling that resonates long after you see it'
Nick James, Sight & Sound

'Gripping and meticulous'
David Jenkins, Little White Lies

As one of the most essential and influential auteurs of the modern era, it was inevitable that Cristian Mungiu's Graduation would make my list of potential titles for my 2016 visit to the BFI London Film Festival. The film won not only great reviews but an official jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered in May, before embarking on a predictably packed schedule of fest screenings through the rest of the year. The drama about a father's attempts to manipulate a corrupt system in order to secure his daughter entrance into a prestigious university in the UK has been hailed as yet another piercing account of contemporary Romanian society from Mungiu, one of the brightest lights in the Romanian New Wave. Graduation is bound to be one of the most talked-about and written-about films of 2016 for many years to come.