De capul nostru / Na własną rękę
2026, 94 min.

Pre-premiere screening, not distributed in Poland

Awards and selections: Berlin International Film Festival 2026 – Forum (CICAE Art Cinema Award)
Director: Tudor Cristian Jurgiu
Cast: Denisa Vraja, Vlad Furtună, Mara Diaconu-Ducica, Sofia Vasiliu, Dominique Toma
Country: Romania, Italy

[IN-PERSON SCREENING]

When parents leave, children have to learn how to become adults

In a small Romanian town, a group of teenagers learns to cope without their parents, who have left to work abroad. Forced to grow up too soon, they form their own “family” in a desperate attempt to fill the void. At the centre of the group is Flavia, a strong-willed girl who hides her emotions behind sarcasm. Yet caring for others changes the way she begins to see herself and the world around her. Flavia’s bravado, like that of the other characters, conceals the pain caused by loneliness, a lack of love and neglect from their own parents.

In the media
«”On Our Own” was presented at the Berlinale in the Forum section, dedicated to auteur cinema. (…) It is an unusual coming-of-age story in which children, forced to live independently too soon, have no way of taking adulthood too seriously.»
— Films in Frame, read the full review

Tudor Cristian Jurgiu

Romanian director and screenwriter. His debut “The Japanese Dog” (2013) premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival. His films focus on everyday life, family relationships and the social consequences of contemporary transformations in Romania. “On Our Own” is his third feature film.

Tags: coming of age, loneliness, family, youth, emigration

The “Romanian Paragraph” section is organised in cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Institute.