The Way I Spent the End of the World

The Way I Spent the End of the World (Romanian: Cum mi-am petrecut sfârșitul lumii) is the feature-length film debut of Romanian director Cătălin Mitulescu. It was released on September 15, 2006.

Cum mi-am petrecut sfârșitul lumii
Film poster showing Dorotheea Petre as Eva and Timotei Duma as her brother Lilu
Directed by	Cătălin Mitulescu
Written by	Cătălin Mitulescu and Andreea Valean
Produced by	Cătălin Mitulescu, In-Ah Lee, Philippe Martin, Daniel Mitulescu, Andrew J.Schorr, David Thion
Starring	Dorotheea Petre and Timotei Duma
Cinematography	Marius Panduru
Edited by	Cristina Ionescu
Music by	Alexandru Bălănescu
Distributed by	Metropolis Film (Romania), Pyramide Distribution (International)
Release date	2006 (2006)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	Romania
Language	Romanian

Synopsis

The film is about 17-year-old Eva and 7-year-old Lilu, siblings living in Bucharest, Romania during the final years of the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. After Eva is expelled from her high school for her uncooperative attitude, she is sent to a technical school where she meets Andrei, with whom she plans to escape by swimming across the Danube into Yugoslavia and then relocating to Italy. Lilu and his friends volunteer for a choir scheduled to perform for Ceaușescu, hoping this will give them a chance to assassinate him.

Cast and characters

The Matei family

• Dorotheea Petre as Eva Matei
• Timotei Duma as Lalalilu Matei
• Carmen Ungureanu as Maria Matei
• Mircea Diaconu as Grigore Matei
• Jean Constantin as Uncle Florică

Lilu's friends

• Valentino Marius Stan as Tarzan
• Marian Stoica as Silvică

Eva's friends

• Cristian Văraru as Andrei, Eva's friend
• Ionuț Becheru as Alexandru Vomică, Eva's boyfriend

Others

• Valentin Popescu as the music teacher
• Grigore Gonta as Ceaușică
• Florin Zamfirescu as the school director
• Monalisa Basarab as choir teacher
• Corneliu Țigancu as Bulba
• Nicolae Enache Praida as Titi

Awards

• Dorotheea Petre - Premiul de interpretare feminină (Female actor award)
• Dorotheea Petre - Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress, 2006 Cannes Film Festival

Alternative titles

• Comment j'ai fêté la fin du monde (French title)
• How I Celebrated the End of the World (alternative translation)

See also

• Romanian New Wave
• List of submissions to the 79th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Romanian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• Official website
• Cum mi-am petrecut sfârșitul lumii at IMDb
• Profile at cinemagia.ro
• The Way I Spent the End of the World at Film Movement - US Distributor

• Study on 1989 in Romanian cinema: https://www.academia.edu/3671294/Post-Heroic_Revolution_Depicting_the_1989_Events_in_the_Romanian_Historical_Film_of_the_Twenty-First_Century