Radical Romanian provocateur Radu Jude (BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN) returns to the Film Center with a fresh crop of hot takes assailing corporate greed, social media rot, flagrant misogyny, and worker exploitation—don’t worry, it’s a comedy. Pushing the conventional boundaries of narrative cinema, Jude follows a day-in-the-life of Angela, a cynical film production assistant as she drives around Bucharest on her current gig: recording testimonials of workers who have been injured on the job. Intercut with footage from Lucian Bratu’s 1981 film  ANGELA MOVES ON, Jude’s latest is a razor sharp retort to human existence in the 21st century. Film Center exclusive. 

Awards & Nominations

Winner - Silver Hugo, Best Performance (Ilinca Manolache), Chicago International Film Festival 
Winner - Special Jury Prize, Locarno International Film Festival

5 QUESTIONS WITH RADU JUDE

(Interview from March/April 2024 Gazette)

DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD plays with tone and form. Humor is laced with commentary, TikTok videos are juxtaposed with scenes from Lucian Bratu's 1981 film ANGELA GOES ON. How do you approach a new film, a scene, an actor, with this spirit of experimentation?
I feel the question is too big for me. Because I am not able to have a system, a method, not even a direction. I only have a desire to explore something and see where this will take the film. And I decided some time ago not to think too much in terms of the outcome. Whenever I start to question the decisions I am making, everything becomes more difficult. So I prefer to work fast and accept whatever happens.

Your films, and the work of contemporary Romanian directors including Cristian Mungiu, are introducing entirely new audiences to Romanian cinema. How does DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH… fit into that education.
I will disappoint you—I don't think filmmakers can do that much for gaining new audiences. I would say (and maybe I am too old-fashioned and uncool) that what is lacking nowadays is a good basic education. The Romanian public system of education is in serious trouble (more and more in the last years), terribly underfunded and in many ways not adapted to the present times. When it comes to artistic education of any kind, it is even worse. If the public system of education would get better, then we might have a chance for new audiences interested in different types of arts.

The Film Center welcomes a strong audience of students studying film. What is one piece of advice you'd give to an emerging filmmaker?
I don't dare do this, I feel I am so worthless and such a beginner myself. But I just stumbled upon this John Cage idea: “One way to write music: study Duchamp." I think it is good advice for filmmakers as well.

What is a memorable moviegoing experience you've had?
Maybe watching for the first time Jonas Mekas's LOST LOST LOST. It was projected on 16mm at the Rotterdam Film Festival, in a small room, somewhere in the back of a bar. Not many people were there, maybe 10, but for me it was a fundamental encounter with a type of cinema I didn't know existed.

What film do you watch again and again? 
I guess reality itself. And surfing online is like a movie, I do it every day. Sometimes I rewatch a film or another and it is true that whenever I do it, I observe something new or a new idea appears. I would love to watch a film (or to read a book) again and again, but I don't have the energy and the patience.

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu