Maria, Dan and Ilinca are on their regular end-of-the-year humanitarian trip organised together with a bunch of friends from work. They all drive in their big SUVs along mountain dirt roads to reach distant villages and offer their standard bags of goodies to the locals. On the way, they meet a lonely old man and agree to take him over to a sawmill where he supposedly works. But when their car gets stuck in a ditch in the woods, the sawmill proves to be abandoned, and they’re forced to spend the night together with the senile old man, their ideas about empathy and helpfulness start to be challenged.
“What is the limit of empathy when you think about the problems of others? Are we happier when we do a good deed, or do we only do good deeds when we are happy? Is true altruism tested only when it comes with a certain sacrifice on the part of the one who performs the act itself?” (Radu Muntean)
Radu Muntean
Born 1971 in Bucharest, Romania, Muntean graduated from the Theater and Film Academy in Bucharest in 1994. Initially making a name for himself in advertising, he directed over 400 commercials and went on to achieve distinction as a filmmaker. His award-winning films have screened at numerous international festivals.