Making Waves at Roxy Cinema

Making Waves is the 19th annual New Romanian Cinema Film Festival taking place at premiere art house cinemas across New York City this Winter and is co-presented by Film ETC Association in partnership with Roxy Cinema New York, DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema, and IFC Center.

Roxy Cinema is proud to partner for the third consecutive year with Making Waves to present a geographically and narratively bold lineup of five films — a selection with no festival safety net, one that lands its emotional blows before offering the faintest note of solace.

At the core of the selection are two stripped-down, rigorously focused dramas that refuse to look away from the crises shaping our current moment.

Grey Bees (Directed by Dmytro Moysieiev)
Set in the shadowy “grey zone” of Donbass, this Ukrainian drama is both intimate and quietly devastating. Moysieiev captures the emotional texture of life suspended between conflict and survival — where silence is as dangerous as shellfire, and ordinary routines become small acts of defiance. It’s a portrait of isolation, resilience, and the fragile humanity that persists even as the world breaks apart.

Dismissed (Directed by George Ve Gänæaard & Horia Cucută)
A Romanian conspiracy thriller cleverly disguised as a talking-heads mockumentary, Dismissed burrows deep into the tangled ethical roots of contemporary AI. The film’s minimalist structure gives it unnerving force; every interview feels like a clue, every hesitation a warning. Ve Gänæaard and Cucută use stillness to build dread, creating a chilling meditation on truth, autonomy, and the digital ghosts we’ve unleashed.

Counterpoints of Comedy — Balkans Style

Balancing the program’s heavier themes are three sharply drawn comedies from Eastern Europe and the Balkans — each rooted in political memory, cultural contradiction, and the absurdity of everyday life.

The New Year That Never Came (Directed by Bogdan Mureșanu)
Mureșanu dives headfirst into the final day of Romanian Communism, crafting a tragicomic sprint toward a future nobody fully trusts. The film’s manic pacing and dark humor capture the emotional whiplash of revolution: fear, hope, chaos, and the surreal comedy of bureaucratic collapse.

Carbon (Directed by Ion Borș)
Set in early-1990s Moldova, Carbon is a satirical road movie pulsing with post-Soviet bewilderment. Borș navigates the era’s uncertainty with wit and wildness: friendships fray, loyalties shift, and the open road becomes both an escape and an indictment. It’s political memory rewritten as sharp, kinetic farce.

My Late Summer (Directed by Danis Tanović)
Closing the selection is a warm breeze of a film: a gentle, sun-washed romantic comedy set in Croatia, directed by Oscar-winner Danis Tanović. My Late Summer unfolds with quiet nostalgia — a story of late-season love, missed opportunities, and the tenderness that surfaces when time moves just a little too quickly. It’s the soft landing after a lineup that asks much of its viewers.

Together, these five films form a vibrant, unpredictable journey across borders and emotional terrains — a testament to Making Waves’ mission and to Roxy Cinema’s commitment to showcasing uncompromising, artist-driven cinema.