Aurora is a 2010 Romanian film written and directed by Cristi Puiu

Cristi Puiu

Cristi Puiu is a Romanian film director and screenwriter.Puiu's first interest in art was painting and in 1992, he was admitted as a student at the Painting Department of Ecole Superieure d'Arts Visuels in Geneva. After the first year he switched to film studies at the same school and graduated in...

, who also plays the main character. Producer Anca Puiu has described the plot as a "crime story from a new perspective." It is the second installment in Puiu's planned suite "Six Stories from the Outskirts of Bucharest", the first being The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is a 2005 Romanian dark comedy film by director Cristi Puiu. In the film an old man is carried by an ambulance from hospital to hospital all night long, as doctors keep refusing to treat him and send him away....

from 2005. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...

 section at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival

2010 Cannes Film Festival

The 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 12 to May 23, 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films screened in and out of competition during the...

.

Cast

• Cristi Puiu
  Cristi Puiu
  Cristi Puiu is a Romanian film director and screenwriter.Puiu's first interest in art was painting and in 1992, he was admitted as a student at the Painting Department of Ecole Superieure d'Arts Visuels in Geneva. After the first year he switched to film studies at the same school and graduated in...
  
   as Viorel
• Clara Vodă as Gina
• Valeria Seciu as Pusa
• Gelu Colceag as Mr. Livinski
• Luminiţa Gheorghiu
  Luminita Gheorghiu
  Luminiţa Gheorghiu is an actress at Teatrul Bulandra in Bucharest, Romania one of the most respected theater actresses in East Central Europe. She has also appeared in a number of films, mostly in Romanian, but also in French....
  
   as Mioara Avram
• Gigi Ifrim as neighbour
• Lucian Ifrim
• Carmela Culda
• Ileana Puiu as Olguta

Production

Production was led by the Romanian company Mandragora, and co-produced by France's Société Française de Coproduction, Switzerland's Bord Cadre Films and Germany's Essential Filmproduktion. The total production budget was 2 million Euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

, including 380,000 Euro from the Romanian National Center of Cinematography and 250,000 Euro from Eurimages

Eurimages

Eurimages is the Council of Europe fund for the co-production, distribution, exhibition and digitisation of European cinematographic works. It aims to promote the European film industry by encouraging the production and distribution of films and fostering co-operation between professionals....

. Puiu spent five months searching for an appropriate lead actor before deciding to cast himself. Since the role involved several driving scenes he had to get a driving licence before filming could begin. Filming took place between February and May 2009.