Occident

In the both clever and complex screenplay of Occident, the three protagonists influence each other’s lives without themselves knowing it. The way in which the first-time director links events together makes them acquire unexpected meanings. In a cemetery, the different stories come together. Almost everyone seems to want to leave Romania, where life does not have much to offer. Luci and his fiancée Sorina have just become homeless. Sorina’s father would have found something, but he has been dead for years. Sorina and Luci go to his grave, waiting for a sign from heaven. However the sign they receive is far from being mystical: a bottle falls from the sky, straight on Luci’s head. Fortunately they get a lift to hospital from a nice Frenchman. For Sorina, this Jérôme is her one chance to improve her situation and she moves in with him straightaway. In an attempt to win back Sorina, Luci takes a job as a living beer bottle. In this way he meets Mihaela, who was jilted at the altar… In addition to being a glib and black comedy, Occident is also a story about migration – and especially about those who stay behind.