The Catastrophe (1971)

This is one of hundreds of so-called „ephemeral” films produced by the documentary studio in the wake of serious accidents on Romania’s roads. As was always the case in such films, the guilty party is the driver himself – one of the aims of this category of film was to assign unequivocal guilt. Yet, what makes this coarse lesson, brought to life by actors and non-professionals, more relevant today than it was at the time of its production is its ability to capture more than the event itself and thereby to provide us with a glimpse of the period in which it was produced.