Robert Radoveneanu

In the remote Romanian village of Catane, a community of villagers, long surviving on disability benefits obtained through ambiguous means, faces exposure when a local inquiry descends. What unfolds is not a story of deception, but of unexpected ingenuity as the villagers craft a disarmingly poetic and humorous response to the absurdities of a broken system. In reinventing their way of life, they reveal not only a means of survival—but a radical model of communal resilience in a fractured world.

The grim realities of daily life in post-Communist Romania are described in this dark drama, which was filmed on-location in the poorer areas of Bucharest. Pepe & Fifi are brother and sister. Pepe is a struggling boxer, and Fifi is a barfly addicted to Bucharest's sleazy night life. This movie chronicles their daily lives while commenting upon the political and economic situation in Romania.

A little boy asks you for money. A rich old man calls for health. A supermodel sneezes. Two surgeons endlessly invite each other to make the first cut. A young soprano converts to music a savage sitting in a tree. And so on and and so on - Is there a way out of this?