Soldiers. Story from Ferentari

A slow, intimate character study that immerses you in a marginalized world, balancing tenderness with unease.

Directed by

Ivana Mladenović

Genres

Drama

Starring

Adrian Schiop, Vasile Pavel, Ștefan Iancu

Overview

Adi (40), a shy and introverted anthropologist who got recently dumped by his girlfriend, moves to Ferentari, most notorious outcasted neighborhood in Bucharest. He wants to write a study on manele music. The pop music of the Roma community serves as a way out for some, but mostly as one more means for the mafia pimps to make money off their acts and keep them in slave-like dependency. While researching his subject, Adi meets Alberto, a Roma ex-convict and a bear of a man, who promises Adi to help him. Soon, the unlikely pair begins a playful romance in which Adi feeds Alberto with improbable plans of escaping poverty and Alberto reciprocates with well-concocted phrases of love. Little by little their casual affair grows into love. And the funny and sweet teasing turns into something precarious, since Alberto is both dangerous and fragile and belongs to a world whose codes Adi doesn't understand.

How it feels

Melancholic, tense, dark and warm. Slow-burning and needs your attention.

About

Identity, isolation, love, class

Content

Strong sexual content and language. Mild violence. No gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)